Public has right to know, too, Panelo says
(Eagle News)–The “ouster plot matrix” was disclosed to the public so those involved in such would know that Malacañang knows of their plans.
Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo added the disclosure of the matrix, which figured leftist and media organizations such as Rappler, the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism, among others, was pursuant to the people’s right to information, citing Article 3, Section 7 of the Constitution.
“The people deserve to know that there are ouster plans against the leadership of their government. It is therefore the constitutional duty of the administration to report to our countrymen the presence of groups which are motivated to unseat their President whom they have given the mandate to govern,” he said.
According to Panelo, there was no attempt to stifle dissent with the disclosure of the matrix, noting that the critics and those in the matrix were “still vigorously voicing their adverse opinions against the administration and even have increased their attacks a notch higher in this election season..”
“No person has been hailed to court on account of the individual’s exercise of the freedom of speech or by reason of one’s disagreement against the administration or its policies,” he added, noting that those who face cases had nothing to do with them being critics of the administration.
As for the calls of those named in the matrix for proof of their participation in the supposed plot, Panelo called them “totally unnecessary.”
“The matrix shows that there is an ouster plot. It is just a plot, a plan, an idea. The same is not actionable in court it being just a conspiracy,” he said.
He said Article 8 of the Revised Penal Code says that “conspiracy and proposal to commit felony are punishable only in the cases in which the law specially provides a penalty therefor.”
He said examples of conspiracies which are punishable even without overt acts were proposals to commit treason, rebellion, insurrection, coup d’etat, and sedition.
“Only when all the elements of any of these crimes have been committed will we file a case against the conspirators. Should their plans lead to overt acts punishable by law then criminal cases will also be filed against them. It is only when the cases are filed in court that proof will be submitted to substantiate the criminal charges,” Panelo said.
Panelo also slammed those alleging the information from the ouster plot matrix was obtained through illegal wiretapping or other illegal means, saying the “possibilities are endless.”
“The President said the information on the ouster plot was received by him from a foreign source. It does not conclusively mean, however, that the information was originally obtained by the foreign country by an unlawful method that violates the privacy of an individual,” he said.
He said it was possible the information was obtained by a Filipino citizen who shared the data with the foreign country which then transmitted it to Duterte, based on the global policy of intelligence information sharing between countries.
“It could also have been heard by one of their colleagues who does not agree on the ouster plan, who then shared the information to another, who in turn also relayed the information from whom PRRD received,” he said.
