De Lima stays in jail

De Lima’s release can only happen upon her acquittal and not from the prodding of foreign politicians.

Guevarra demands respect from American solons.

The government has no plan of bending backwards for a foreign demand to set aside the judicial process to cause the release of Sen. Leila de Lima, who is detained on drug-related charges, the Department of Justice (DoJ) chief said yesterday.

DoJ Secretary Menardo Guevarra said De Lima’s release can only happen upon her acquittal and not from the prodding of foreign politicians.

US Senator Patrick Leahy issued a statement yesterday in reaction to President Rodrigo Duterte’s decision to bar him and his colleague Richard Durbin from entering the country in which he demanded that the Philippine government should release De Lima, instead of “irrationally threatening to deny visas to American citizens.”

Aside from restricting the two US senators, Mr. Duterte likewise raised the possibility of requiring Americans to secure a visa before they can visit the country which have never happened before.

“I wish Senator Leahy and his four other colleagues in the US Senate know that much of our constitutional law and rules on criminal procedure had their origin in US law,” said Guevarra.

“I also wish they know that Sen. De Lima’s indictment was upheld by the Philippine Supreme Court and that she has been freely exercising all the rights of an accused in a fair and public trial,” he added.

Guevarra also invited the US Senator’s legal staff to the Philippines and “pore over the evidence presented in court instead of relying on so-called reports which are at best secondary evidence and at worst, multiple hearsay.”

Guevarra was referring to reports that contained the findings of various human rights organizations, the US State Department and the United Nations.

This, as Chief Presidential Legal Counsel and spokesman Salvador Panelo yesterday confirmed the reported ban on Philippine officials involved in the detention of De Lima since 2017 for allegedly financially benefitting from the proliferation of illegal drugs at the New Bilibid Prison while serving as justice secretary during the previous Aquino administration.

Panelo said no less that Philippine Ambassador to the US Babes Romualdez confirmed the ban’s existence but enforceable only when certain conditions imposed by the US law are met.

“I was talking to US Ambassador Babes Romualdez, he said they checked the law, it exists. The ban is true,” said Panelo.

Panelo added that Romualdez already talked with Durbin and Leahy even before the controversy erupted but apparently “their minds were already set.”

However, Panelo said there was still no formal communication on the part of the US government to Philippine officials with regards to the travel ban.

He maintained that the warning aired by Malacañang that Manila would require US citizens to secure visa to be able to enter the Philippines still stands and the ban on Leahy and Durbin remain.

“What’s important to us is if they ban any government official, then what I was saying we will require the securing of visa stands and the ban on the two senators stands,” said Panelo.

President Duterte earlier directed the Bureau of Immigration to deny entry of Durbin and Leahy, who introduced provisions in the U.S. 2020 budget banning Philippine officials.

Panelo downplayed the possible effects of the issue to the overall bilateral relationship of Manila and Washington.

“It will not have an effect. We just don’t want our processes to be trampled upon,” he said.

For his part, Sen. Aquilino Pimentel III explained that if the US ban on Philippine officials was meant to pressure the government to act on their request in favor of De Lima, it can be considered as interference.

“If their (US senators) reason is to pressure the government, then that is interference,” said Pimentel, chairman of the Senate foreign relations committee.

“But we should tell them that nothing will happen (despite the ban) because we have court procedures. It is the court that dictates. Even if they pass any resolution, even if they sanction many government officials, that would have no effect because we have our (own) system,” he added.

He added that he will not advise the filing of any diplomatic protest because it will be futile as the US move will have no effect on the Philippine judicial procedure.

“For me, I will not (file.) It would be pointless to protest because that is already the conclusion of their legislation. (But) that would have no effect in our (procedure) because we have our own process and they (US) will no longer change that,” Pimentel said.