1 week Ago By Mia Gonzalez
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rapplerAds.displayAd( "mobile-middle-1" );MANILA, Philippines – Senate President Francis “Chiz” Escudero called out Senator Imee Marcos on Friday, April 11, for allegedly using the upper chamber as a platform to boost her reelection bid, at the cost of eroding the credibility of the institution.Escudero issued the strongly worded statement a day after Marcos claimed that he (Escudero) had refused to sign the contempt order of Markus Lacanilao, the special envoy for transnational crime who represented the Philippines in former president Rodrigo Duterte’s surrender to the International Criminal Court (ICC).
Marcos is the chairperson of the Senate committee on foreign relations which is probing into the arrest of Duterte.“For the record, I did not refuse to sign the contempt order of Ambassador Markus Lacanilao. Senator Marcos released her statement and flaunted to the media her signed arrest and detention order even before I could see, much less, receive a copy of it,” Escudero said.
He said that under Senate rules, “the power of a committee chairperson to order the arrest or detention of any resource person cited in contempt is subject to the approval of the Senate President.” He noted that this “safeguard exists to ensure that the powers of the Senate are exercised prudently with due regard for the rights of all and not wielded for personal or political ends.”“For reasons unknown, Senator Imee Marcos appears to have disregarded this longstanding rule or conveniently forgotten it that the approval of the Senate President is not automatic nor ministerial simply because she desires it,” Escudero said.
“I will not allow the Senate nor the Office of the Senate President to be used to further petty partisan interests, especially by those actively seeking reelection in coming May midterm polls. The Senate is an institution of reason and rule; it is not a tool to be leveraged for propaganda or self-promotion,” he added.Marcos, who is running for reelection, has not been faring well in pre-election surveys.
She was initially part of the administration coalition’s Senate ticket led by her brother, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., but she twice left it — initially saying she wanted to be an “independent” candidate though she joined the administration sorties later on, and then quit it a second time following Duterte’s arrest.While she deems herself a staunch ally of the Dutertes to the point of criticizing the Marcos administration’s policies, she is not among the senatorial candidates formally endorsed by the Duterte camp.
‘Dangerous precedent’Escudero also said that he agreed with Marcos’ assertion that what happened in relation to Lacanilao has set a “terrible precedent,” but cited different reasons for doing so.“I believe it is a dangerous precedent to allow senators to flout the Senate’s own rules for personal gain. For when procedures meant to safeguard due process and institutional integrity are ignored for media mileage or political ambition, that is when the credibility of the Senate is threatened,” he said.
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rapplerAds.displayAd( "mobile-middle-2" );“I urge Senator Marcos to refrain from using the Senate as a platform for her own personal political objectives and to instead use her name, title, and influence as a bridge toward unity, not a wedge for division. Our people and our country expect and deserve no less,” he added.
The Senate leader noted that Marcos had ordered the detention of Lacanilao “without the requisite approval and due process.” Escudero also cited the concurring opinion of Chief Justice Alexander Gesmundo on the case of Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corporation executive Linconn Ong “that witnesses accused by Congress of ‘giving false or evasive testimony’ must be accorded stricter due process requirements.” It is for this reason, he said, that he ordered the release of Lacanilao from “unauthorized detention.
..both as a matter of regularity and out of humanitarian consideration as his grandfather is to be laid to rest today.
” “In order to comply with the requisites of due process, I am, issuing a ‘show cause order’ today for Ambassador Lacanilao to explain within five days why he should not be cited in contempt as requested by Sen. Imee Marcos. I shall decide on whether or not to sign his arrest/detention only thereafter,” he said.
“The public we serve can rest assured that I will review the committee proceedings and that I will exercise my duty and discretion in accordance with the law to determine their propriety devoid of political agenda or motivation, and with the best interest of our people, country, and the Senate as an institution in mind,” he added. Senator Marcos began the probe into Duterte’s ICC arrest on March 20, a little over a week after the former president was hauled off to The Hague, in the Netherlands, to face crimes against humanity charges over his bloody drug war.During the third hearing on April 10, it was revealed that a supposed Department of Justice memo that Marcos had presented at the previous hearing was bogus.
The document was supposed to be addressed to the prosecutor general saying that a task force was already “drafting the revised complaint” against Duterte and his accomplices. – Rappler.com.
