The President said the cases against some senators stemmed from the findings of investigations and are not related to political affiliations.?
TOKYO – President Marcos on Friday, May 29, denied that the majority bloc senators are being targeted with criminal cases, saying the legal woes confronting some of them are based on the results of investigations conducted by the Senate Blue Ribbon committee and various state agencies.
Sen. Imee Marcos, the President’s estranged elder sister, recently claimed that she and her colleagues in the majority are being targeted with lawsuits.
Citing unnamed informants from the Department of Justice and the Office of the Ombudsman, she said case buildups are now ongoing against the 13 majority senators.
Speaking to reporters here, the President said the cases against some senators stemmed from the findings of investigations and are not related to political affiliations.
“If the alignment is different again tomorrow – I’m not saying it will be – but if the alignments are different again in terms of the majority, how can you claim that (the majority is being targeted) if it changes again?” he said. “So it has nothing to do with the majority, minority in the Senate. This is the result of the investigation of the Blue Ribbon committee and the different agencies of the government,” he added.
The leadership and alignments in the Senate changed after 13 senators voted to oust Sen. Vicente Sotto III as Senate president and replace him with Sen. Alan Cayetano.
Some of the majority bloc members have been linked to irregularities, including Sens. Jinggoy Estrada and Joel Villanueva, who have been accused of involvement in the multibillion-peso flood control scandal, and Sen. Rodante Marcoleta, who is facing a plunder complaint over alleged campaign donations worth P75 million.
Another majority bloc member, Sen. Ronald dela Rosa, is now in hiding after the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant against him over alleged crimes against humanity in relation to the deaths linked to the previous administration’s drug war.
Marcos said the truth about the flood control controversy is slowly being uncovered.
“Almost a year ago, I said the people should know the entire truth. The ombudsman, the Department of Justice, studied all allegations related to flood control. Many were saying, ‘How come nothing has happened?’ ‘What is taking you so long?’ ‘You seem to be selecting the people you prosecute,’” he said.
“Now, the truth is slowly coming out… If they did not commit any wrongdoing, it would come out during the investigations. The people are demanding this from us… And we are doing it. This is not yet over. The investigation continues,” Marcos added.
The President said he does not know why there are notions that the majority members are being targeted.
“They were not the majority then. So, that does not apply,” he said. “It was because of the allegations that were made and the investigations that were conducted upon learning of those allegations against whoever… These are the same people whose names appeared in the (investigation). The Blue Ribbon committee turned over its findings to the ombudsman and the DOJ. These are the results.”
Rubber stamp?
Marcos also disputed the claim of Marcoleta that the Senate presidency of Cayetano is the only one without Malacañang’s blessing.
“Malacañang doesn’t give a rubber stamp to the Senate president. The Senate president is decided by the senators themselves. I mean, of course, we are aware of the goings-on in the Senate because it’s important to us to be well-informed,” he said. “But is he (Marcoleta) implying that I somehow choose the Senate president? I think you ask any senator. Me, as a former senator, I will laugh in your face because that’s simply not true.”
Physical presence
Sen. Panfilo Lacson said detained senator-judges may still join the upcoming impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte physically, instead of online, by seeking the permission of the court.
“One remedy is for the Impeachment Court to ask the Sandiganbayan or any court/s to which their cases would be assigned for ‘leave of court’ and if granted, order the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology or their custodian/s to escort them to the Senate so they may participate in the impeachment trial of the Vice President. The senator-judges will be physically present,” he told dzBB.
He said seeking the court’s nod is compliant with the Rules of the Senate. – With additional reports from Marc Jayson Cayabyab and Mark Ernest Villeza