US Senate reso intrusion on Phl sovereignty

The Philippines respects the United States Senate as an institution but its recent resolution “condemning “the Philippines for the continued detention of Senator Leila De Lima and calling for the suspected drug lord protector’s immediate release is a “brazen and heedless affront against the dignity not only of the Philippine government but of the country’s sovereignty as well.

Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte will not allow the country’s sovereignty trampled upon by a few of the US Senate members.

“We hope that probing and educated minds will ultimately prevail and that such misguided and intrusive act shall not tarnish nor diminish the warm relations between our two countries,” Panelo said in a statement. “There can be no excuse for the US Senate Committee [on Foreign Relations] not to know that the Philippines has long ceased to be a colony of the United States.”

The resolution that also called a stop to the alleged harassment of journalist Maria Ressa, who was slapped with a number of tax and libel cases, is a misguided move on the part of the US Senate.

“They are currently facing criminal prosecution for transgression of Philippine laws. They were accorded procedural due process in all stages of their criminal prosecution. In every stage of the proceeding, both exercised their constitutional right to due process and to competent counsel of their choice,” said Panelo.

“They continue to avail of all available legal remedies for their defense. Ressa was given provisional liberty by the hearing court while De Lima’s continued detention remains on account of the nature of the crime she is charged with and the court’s finding that the evidence against her is strong.”

Panelo said the government expects US senators to be responsible enough and familiarize themselves with the Philippine processes “considering that the protection and limitations of the rights of an accused are also inscribed in the Fourth and Fifth Amendments to their Constitution.”

“We reiterate that the cases against De Lima and Ressa have absolutely nothing to do with their political views on the Duterte administration. The record shows that no one has been hailed to court on account of one’s exercise of the freedom of the speech and of the press,” said Panelo.

Panelo called on the US senators who approved Resolutio No. 142 to remove their blinders and look at the De Lima and Ressa cases with studied objectivity and cautious discernment.

“They should respect the judicial processes of our country in the same manner we respect theirs. Among sovereign states there must be equal and mutual respect. Intrusion on the sovereign rights of independent countries is abhorrent in civilized societies and anathema to international order,” said Panelo.