Supporters of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte may see House Speaker Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s decision to push for the withdrawal of the Philippines from the Inter Parliamentary Union as proof her strong alliance with the current administration, but I see it as the only correct stand against the meddling of this international lawmakers’ body with our country’s functioning judicial system.
“You know the last time there was an IPU and then Senate President Koko Pimentel was head of delegation and he decried the interference of the IPU in our judicial processes. This time, over the objection of the Philippine delegation, again they did the same thing,” Arroyo said during a medical mission in Brgy. Escopa, Quezon City.“Since this is the second time they did it to my knowledge, I am recommending to the Senate which heads the delegation that we should withdraw our membership with the IPU,” she explained.Source: CNN Philippines
Presidential Spokesman Sal Panelo outlined how the IPU trampled on the Philippine’s sovereignty.
“The Office of the President considers the resolutions adopted by the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), as well as its subsequent decisions on the cases of Senator Leila de Lima and Senator Antonio Trillanes IV during its 139th Assembly in Geneva, Switzerland, as an affront to the core of our State’s principles,” Panelo said in a statement on Monday.“We consider such actions as interventions of our domestic affairs for they do not only show the Philippines in a bad light in front of the global community but worse, such one-sided evaluations infringe on our sovereignty,” he added.Source: Inquirer.net
The IPU, together with the EU and the ICC, has consistently demonstrated bias for those opposed to Duterte’s administration on the basis of bare allegations of human rights abuse and extra judicial killings.
As a former President with vast experience in international law and geopolitics, House Speaker Macapagal Arroyo’s push for the Philippine withdrawal from the IPU further validates the Duterte Administration’s stand against the international lawmakers’ body.
With both houses of Congress supporting the president’s stand, the Philippine withdrawal from the IPU can hardly be called a capricious move or pique on the president’s part.
Moreover, the IPU taking the cudgels for De Lima appears to be ignorant and arrogant.
“The IPU’s resolution reiterating its concern to the continued trial and detention of Sen. De Lima exposes its ignorance on the workings of the justice system in the Philippines. IPU must educate itself before displaying its total lack of understanding of De Lima’s case,” he said in a statement.He noted that the senator was accorded due process, saying that a judge of a court of competent jurisdiction issued a warrant for De Lima’s arrest after a judicious determination of the existence of a probable cause 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,” said Panelo.Source: GMA Network
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