Tag: Leila de Lima

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On Speaker Arroyo’s Recommendation of Withdrawal from the Inter-Parliamentary Union

First, Speaker Arroyo’s recommendation is based on the wrong premise. The IPU has yet to act on its Human Rights Committee’s recommendation to the IPU Governing Council. Having said that, it is premature, if at all, to denounce the IPU as a whole, much less withdraw membership from the body.

Second, by withdrawing, it would imply that the Philippine Senate acknowledges the political persecution of opposition senators.

Contrarily, the recent resolution of Sen. Trillanes’ coup d’etat case by the Makati RTC Branch 148 is proof enough that the judicial process works in our country, and that the separation of powers and the independence of the judiciary from the executive and legislative is evident and clear.

Third, it is the Senate, not the House of Representatives, that is a member of the IPU, so I’m not sure where Speaker GMA is coming from.

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Senators scrap Faeldon’s ethics case vs Lacson [Inquirer]

photo0220-002From the Inquirer: “It’s clearly a forum shopping,” Sen. Drilon said of the complaint against Sen. Lacson.

Related: Privilege speech: Kita-Kita (sa Customs)

Continue reading “Senators scrap Faeldon’s ethics case vs Lacson [Inquirer]”

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On Whether to Take Up Calls for Sen. de Lima’s Release in a Senate Caucus

No way. We should all understand and respect our criminal justice system. The Senate cannot and will not interfere with the courts that have jurisdiction over Sen. de Lima’s drug cases.

Having said that, the judiciary is independent of the executive and legislative branches. The same goes true, and even worse, in the case of foreign organizations and groups that are calling for her immediate release.

They have no business in arrogantly asking our president to release Sen de Lima. That’s totally uncalled for.

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The best of the Senate, the worst of the Senate [Manila Times]

From The Manila Times: Two senators, Richard Gordon and Panfilo Lacson Sr., demonstrated they were the best of the Senate, at par with the pre-martial law titans of that body such as Jovito Salonga, Jose Diokno, and yes, Benigno Aquino, Jr. If these two get to be presidential timber, I begin to have hope for our unlucky country.  Continue reading “The best of the Senate, the worst of the Senate [Manila Times]”

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On Sen. de Lima’s Statement

She got it all wrong. When I said pinagtatawanan ko lang yung pinagdadaanan niya ngayon compared to what I experienced before, I wasn’t referring to the credibility of evidence being presented against her now and against me before, but the degree of harassment that former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and her cohorts in practically all the agencies of government were throwing against me. I was all alone at that time. I had practically nobody on my side except probably my family, while she has her LP allies supporting her now.

She shouldn’t be twisting my statement to suit her purpose.

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