SENATE President Francis Escudero yesterday appealed to the Marcos and Duterte camps not to drag members of the Armed Forces in the ongoing political war between the country’s top two elected leaders.
In a press conference, Escudero said neither camp should persuade the military to take sides or let them act as a “referee” to their political bickering.
He stressed that the men in uniform should be loyal to the Constitution and the chain of command.
“At sana tigilan na rin ‘yan ng magkabilang panig kaugnay sa panunuyo sa ating sandatahang lakas dahil hindi nila gusto na sila ay manghimasok kada na lamang may hindi pagkakaunawaan ang mga politiko sa ating bansa. Hindi nila trabaho ang maging referee sa anumang isyung political sa ating bansa (Both sides should stop courting our Armed Forces because they do not want to step in each time politicians have misunderstandings. It is not their job to act as referees in any political issues in the country),” he said.
Escudero also questioned why Vice President Sara Duterte raised the issue of the Presidential Security Command’s (PSC) alleged inaction as escort of her father, former President Rodrigo Duterte, when he was arrested on March 11 upon his arrival from Hong Kong on the basis of an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC).
During last week’s Senate Committee on Foreign Relations hearing, the Vice President called out the PSC, a unit under the AFP, for its supposed “silence” as it stood idly while her father “was taken from a military base under questionable circumstances.”
“Even more disturbing is the silence of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. Why did the AFP idly stand while a former commander-in-chief (the former president) was taken from a military base under questionable circumstances? How could they allow a foreign tribunal to override our constitutional guarantees?… Because under the law, the Presidential Security Command is in charge of the security of former presidents. So, bakit nila hinayaan na mangyari ito sa isang dating pangulo ng ating bayan (why did they allow this to happen to a former president of the country)?” she said when she appeared via a video conference from The Hague.
Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro explained then that the AFP was only tasked to provide support to the PNP in implementing the ICC warrant.
Escudero said he has observed that the Duterte camp always wants the Armed Forces to get involved in political issues.
“I don’t understand the concern of the vice president. Aside from the fact that they have been continuously appealing to the armed forces each time there is (a political) incident. I cannot also understand her concerns that the Presidential Security Command is under the AFP,” he said in Filipino.
“What does she want to gain from this? Make the soldiers and police clash? It is very clear that it was a law enforcement operation where the AFP provided assistance and that the soldiers could not oppose the police in its law enforcement operations. Why is it that the two armed units are being made to fight each other?” he added.
He said there was nothing wrong when the AFP allowed the PNP to bring the former president to the Villamor Air Base, which is a military camp.
“Well, uulitin ko. Tila pilit na dinadamay ang sandatahang lakas sa iba’t -ibang isyu na hindi naman dapat talaga at wala namang isyu. Dahil facility man ‘yan ng pulis, facilty man ‘yan ng sundalo, facilty man ‘yan ng executive branch o ng Kongreso, ang law enforcement operation ay law enforcement operation pa rin (I will repeat. It seems that they want the armed forces to get involved in various issues which should not really be the case as it is really not an issue. It may be a facility of the police, the military, of the executive branch or of Congress, but a law enforcement operation is a law enforcement operation),” he stressed.
Escudero reminded the AFP not to take sides during such incidents since it should remain loyal to the chain of command, the Constitution under the commander-in-chief.
EXECUTIVE PRIVILEGE
Escudero said Malacañang is invoking executive privilege when government officials attend the Senate hearings about the arrest of the 79-year-old Duterte.
He said Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin has sent a letter to him and Sen. Imee Marcos, committee chairperson, which is dated March 20 stating that Cabinet members should be allowed to invoke executive privilege if they are asked about sensitive matters pertaining to the incident.
He noted that the privilege was invoked at least twice during the last hearing of the Committee on Foreign Relations.
In the letter, which was made available to the media by Marcos’ office, Bersamin said Cabinet members can invoke the privilege when being asked about presidential communications received by the president’s advisers, including those discussed during closed-door meetings; communications, documents, correspondences and information covering the military and diplomatic secrets; diplomatic correspondence with the police and government authorities of foreign jurisdictions; and matters involving the arrangement in transporting Duterte to The Hague.
“In order for the executive branch to meaningfully exercise its right to invoke executive privilege, we shall highly appreciate if the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations could provide a list of questions and specific matters to be asked prior to the public hearings,” Bersamin said in the letter.
Escudero said he understands the executive privilege but said it is not a reason for invited Cabinet members not to attend the hearings as this “cannot be used as a blanket privilege.”
Sen. Ronald dela Rosa said he believes that last week’s Senate hearing “uncovered various violations and irregularities” on his former boss’ arrest.
While Dela Rosa conceded that discussions on the legality of the former president’s arrest are already “academic,” he objected to what he said were “questionable decisions” by the administration, including the surrender of the country’s sovereignty to the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol).
“Ang kuwestiyon na lang diyan ‘yung cooperation natin kung bakit tayo nag-cooperate based doon sa Interpol diffusion notice nila. So, ano ba, kaya pala tayong diktahan ng Interpol (The big question there is why the administration cooperated [with the International Criminal Court] based on the Interpol diffusion notice. So, can the Interpol dictate upon us?),” he said.
He said the Interpol “was merely used as a pretext” by the Marcos administration to arrest Duterte which he alleged has supposedly long been planned.
“Napaka-obvious. Ginawang lame excuse ang Interpol para talaga ma-byahe si pangulong Duterte doon, di ba? Sabi pa nga 3 o’clock daw nila ng madaling araw natanggap ‘yung warrant of arrest pero naka-deploy na sila the day before (It was very obvious that they used the Interpol as a lame excuse to arrest former president Duterte and bring him there [to The Hague]. They said that the warrant of arrest was received only at around 3 a.m. [of March 11] but their forces were deployed the day before),” he said.
He said the Philippines, as a sovereign nation, could have told Interpol that it was not honoring the ICC warrant since the country is no longer a member of the Rome Statute, thus the international body has no more jurisdiction over the country.
But Escudero said that even if the country is no longer a member of the Rome Statute, it abided by the request of the Interpol in serving the warrant of arrest on Duterte since the international court still has jurisdiction over persons charged before it and not necessarily the state.
This was the same position made by Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla during last Thursday’s hearing.
He also said it would have been a different story if Duterte had a pending case in the country of the same nature as what was filed in the ICC and he was extracted from the country so he could be tried and judged in a foreign land.
He added that the absence of cases filed against Duterte in the country indicated that Philippine courts have no chance of rendering judgment on the former president.
“Sa kaso ni dating pangulong Duterte, walang naglakas loob na maghain ng kaso dito at walang pending kaso dito sa Pilipinas para sabihin may pagkakataon mahusgahan siya ng kapwa niya Pilipino (In the case of the former president, no one dared to file cases against him and there are no pending cases here in the Philippines to say that there will be a chance for him to be judged by fellow Filipinos),” he said.
Escudero said that an Interpol diffusion notice and a red notice have the same value of effecting a person’s arrest and the only difference they have is that a diffusion notice is “confidential,” while a red notice is not, as it is posted on the Interpol website for all to see.
Escudero said he believes that the hearing conducted by Marcos last week has clarified certain issues on Duterte’s arrest as both sides were given the chance to explain the circumstances behind the incident.
He said it is up to Marcos if she will call for another hearing but said that issues on the legality of Duterte’s arrest may not be fully tackled since there are pending petitions filed by the Duterte camp before the Supreme Court.
