THE Palace on Wednesday cried foul over a CNN International report claiming that the arrest of Philippine Senator Leila de Lima smacked of political persecution.
‘We call the attention of CNN International on its report aired today saying that the arrest of Philippine Senator Leila de Lima smacked of political persecution,” Presidential Spokesperson Ernesto Abella claimed.
“We challenge CNN International to provide the proper context in its telecasts in the interest of fairness and truthfulness in reporting,” the Palace official added.
The Palace official insisted that a lower court ordered the arrest of Senator De Lima for drug trafficking charges and for allegedly receiving money from drug dealers at the National Penitentiary, which has been conducted by the Senator when she served as secretary of Justice in the past administration.
“To even insinuate that De Lima’s arrest is political in nature contradicts established facts and mocks the country’s commitment to due process and the rule of law,” Abella said.
“Three other former senators —Juan Ponce Enrile, Ramon Revilla, and Jinggoy Estrada —met the same fate in 2014 on plunder charges. Not one of them had the temerity to invoke political persecution,” he added.
Abella insisted that Philippine courts had found “sufficient probable cause for the issuance of the Warrants of Arrest” against her last Feb. 23, along with prison official Rafael Marcos Ragos and erstwhile driver Ronnie Palisoc Dayan.
Both men are being held liable for witnesses’ claims that, on behalf of Senator De Lima’s electoral bid last year, they collected money from the incarcerated drug lords, he added.
Earlier, European politicians also tried to weigh in on the criminal cases filed against De Lima and urged the European Union to take action against the Philippines “where there is no respect for the law whatsoever.”
Dutch politician Hans van Baalen, a member of the European parliament, said he has written High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini urging the EU to take action.
Another Liberal International official, German politician Markus Loning, demanded De Lima’s immediate release although she was ordered detained by local courts pending the resolution of charges that she abetted narcotics trafficking while she was justice minister.
“Leila de Lima is a highly respected human rights activist fighting against corruption and for the rule of law when she was the minister of Justice and now as an elected member of the Senate of the Philippines,” Loning said in the same statement.