A LAWMAKER from the militant bloc at the House wants former President Rodrigo Duterte to face the House committee on national defense and the special committee on the West Philippine Sea (WPS) to personally answer questions about his alleged secret agreement with Chinese President Xi Jinping that the Philippines will refrain from repairing the grounded BRP Sierra Madre at Ayungin Shoal.
Rep. France Castro (PL, ACT) moved that Duterte and a representative from the Chinese embassy be invited in the next hearings after officials of the past administration did not show up for yesterday’s hearing.
Among the Duterte officials invited to the hearing were former Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea, former Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, and former National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr.
Several current officials from the security cluster and from the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) attended the inquiry but said they have no knowledge of the agreement.
“What we need is for former President Duterte to show up and the Chinese embassy, a representative of the Chinese embassy who knows about the agreement, Castro said. “We should invite yun talagang nakipag-secret agreement (the one who entered into the secret agreement), most importantly, former president Duterte.”
Special panel chair Rep. Neptali Gonzales II (Mandaluyong City) and Iloilo Rep. Raul Tupas, a vice chair of the defense panel, decided to hold in abeyance voting on the motion.
Gonzales, a veteran lawyer-lawmaker and former majority leader, said the resource persons should first be allowed to state their positions and be asked if they know anything about the secret deal.
“May I suggest, however, that before any motion for that matter be acted upon by the committee, can we first take advantage of the presence of the resource speakers who are here? Number one, are we already in agreement that there is an agreement? Or do we have, can we ask them what kind of agreement can bind the government?” Gonzales said.
“Because it seems we are already saying that there is an agreement and yet that is something yet to be established. And even assuming that there is such an agreement — which some had already said ‘oral agreement’ — is that kind of agreement an agreement that will bind the government considering that in our Constitution it’s very restrictive,” he added.
It is rare for the House to invite a former president to attend committee hearings but in 2017, former president Benigno Aquino III attended the Senate’s committee hearing on the government’s P3.5-billion deal with Sanofi Pasteur for its anti-dengue vaccine Dengvaxia during his administration.
Former President Fidel V. Ramos and his predecessor, Joseph Estrada, had also both attended House and Senate hearings on various issues after stepping down from power.
CONFLICTING STATEMENTS
Castro said it is pointless to talk to Duterte’s two former spokesmen, Harry Roque and Salvador Panelo, because they gave conflicting statements about the supposed secret agreement.
“Yung dalawang spokesperson dahil conflicting yung kanilang ano, hindi natin sila kailangan (The two spokespersons, we don’t need to invite them since they have conflicting statements),” she said.
Roque last March 27 confirmed the former president’s secret pact with China but Panelo denied it.
Roque made the revelation when asked to comment on China’s aggression whenever Philippine try to conduct resupply missions to troops stationed in BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin Shoal. He said then China may have been acting that way as the Philippines was no longer honoring the agreement, which, he admitted, was non-binding.
Duterte, who initially denied that there was such a pact, later admitted that he and Xi had an agreement to maintain the status quo in the WPS to keep the peace in the area and avoid any conflict. He said the agreement meant that there will be “no movement, no armed patrols.”
SHOW-CAUSE ORDER
Before the hearing was adjourned, the joint panel approved the motion of Antipolo Rep. Romeo Acop to issue a show-cause order for the invited resource persons who were absent in hearing without a valid excuse. Only Medialdea sent a representative while the three other former officials said they have prior engagements.
Those who will refuse to attend the next hearings can be cited in contempt and detained at the Batasang Pambansa.
Zambales Rep. Jefferson Khonghun, whose House Resolution No. 1684 prompted the investigation, said it appeared that the Duterte officials were avoiding the probe.
“Everyone has an excuse. I’m baffled at what they’re trying to avoid. They should not avoid us because sovereignty and national territory are being discussed here,” he said in mixed Filipino and English.
Surigao del Sur Rep. Johnny Pimentel said the two committees should use the subpoena power of the House to compel Medialdea, Esperon, and Lorenzana to attend the inquiry.
“They are the important actors in this investigation. We cannot get the answers we need from officials of the current administration, because they were not involved in the alleged secret agreement,” he said.
Taguig City Rep. Amparo Maria Zamora said those behind the “gentleman’s agreement” should be jailed and held accountable for the illegal pact.
“We should hold all of them accountable, we should put them to jail,” she told a press conference. “For me, it’s very important that we have them incarcerated.”
