(Eagle News)–Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo said the International Parliamentary Union’s act of calling for the immediate release of Senator Leila de Lima “exposes its ignorance on the workings of the justice system in the Philippines..”
According to Panelo, in the first place, De Lima was given due process, with a judge issuing a warrant for her arrest after probable cause was found for a drug-related case filed against her.
“No one is above the law. Her being a senator cannot shield her from the majesty of the law,” Panelo said in a statement.
According to Panelo, the “IPU must educate itself before displaying its total lack of understanding of De Lima’s case.”
It added its statement it was putting to task the Senate to ensure De Lima’s participation in Senate deliberations “is an outright and outrageous intrusion into the internal affairs of the state as well as an affront to our sovereignty.”
“The members of the IPU should instead focus on the problems of their countries in the matter of violation of human rights as well on the drug menace instead of poking their fingers on a subject they know nothing about,” he said.
The IPU reiterated its call for De Lima’s immediate release in a resolution it adopted at the closing of its 138th Assembly in Geneva, Switzerland on March 28.
De Lima, who faces cases in connection with her alleged involvement in the illegal drug trade in the New Bilibid Prison when she was justice secretary, is detained in Camp Crame.