Bongbong may be charged over advice to Imee

MANILA, Philippines -  An official of the House of Representatives yesterday warned former senator Bongbong Marcos that he could be charged with obstruction of justice for advising his older sister Ilocos Norte Gov. Imee Marcos not to attend a House committee hearing on alleged anomalies in the provincial government. 

“Remember Ronnie Dayan? Anong sabi ni Dayan (what did he say)? Tinextan ang anak ko na huwag ako mag-appear (My child received a text for me not to appear). Eh di na-involve tuloy si (Leila) de Lima,” Surigao del Sur Rep. Johnny Pimentel said, referring to Sen. Leile de Lima and her former driver-bodyguard-lover. 

Despite repeated invitations then, De Lima refused to attend the House’s investigation on her alleged links with drug syndicates, for which she has now been charged and detained, the offense being non-bailable. 

On top of the drug raps, the senator is also facing obstruction of justice charges for telling Dayan not to attend the probe. 

“I appeal to Gov. Marcos that if she is really innocent then she should appear and answer the question… iyun lang (that’s all),” Pimentel, chairman of the House committee on good government investigating alleged anomalies in the Ilocos Norte administration, said. 

The House panel had invited Imee Marcos to a public hearing on July 25.

The House committee is investigating – upon the instance of House Majority Leader Rodolfo Fariñas who is a political rival of the Marcoses – the alleged P66.5-million anomaly in the provincial capitol and has detained six Ilocos Norte officials for contempt in the House since May 29.

Pimentel, Fariñas and Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez have all threatened to arrest Imee – a supporter and ally of their political benefactor President Duterte – if the governor defies their order. 

“If she does not show up (on July 25), her arrest and detention is as sure as the sun rising tomorrow,” Pimentel warned.

His committee had sent an invitation to Marcos thrice, but these were all ignored, with the governor even citing medical reasons.  

Recently, the governor told a news conference that she was advised by her lawyers and her brother Bongbong not to attend the hearing at the House where she could face arrest. 

“We had the chamber prepared right after she declared that she will dodge our July 25 hearing, despite our subpoena and show cause order compelling her to explain satisfactorily why she should not be held in contempt for her brazen defiance,” Pimentel said. 

Duterte has repeatedly stated that he owes part of his presidency to three governors, including Marcos who supported him in the 2016 campaign despite his meager resources and against all odds, when everybody considered him a nobody at the time.

Law deans take justices’ side

Two prominent law school deans and constitutional experts sided with the Court of Appeals (CA) in its clash with the House of Representatives over the case involving the six Ilocos Norte provincial officials being detained at the House for contempt.

Former University of the Philippines College of Law dean Pacifico Agabin and San Beda law graduate school dean Fr. Ranhilio Aquino defended the three justices of the CA Special Fourth Division who ordered the release of the provincial officials who have been detained following the House probe on alleged misuse of P66.45 million in tobacco funds to buy motor vehicles.

Agabin slammed the House committee on good government and public accountability for issuing the show cause order against Associate Justices Stephen Cruz, Edwin Sorongon and Nina Antonino-Valenzuela, which he described as a “breach of the separation of powers of coequal branches of government.”

“It was not proper for the House to issue that order. The congressmen are probably not aware of the expanded definition of ‘judicial power’ in the Constitution,” the law dean lamented.

Agabin believes the CA, on the other hand, did not overstep its power in issuing the writ of habeas corpus, show cause order against House sergeant-at-arms Roland Detabali and ordering the release of the six officials.

Just like the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP), he cited Judiciary Reorganization Act of 1980, which gives the CA the “original jurisdiction to issue writs of mandamus, prohibition, certiorari, habeas corpus and quo warranto, and auxiliary writs or processes, whether or not in the aid of its appellate jurisdiction.” 

Agabin said the House should respect the authority of the CA and abide by its order.

“Inquiries in aid of legislation must always be in accordance with its rules of procedure and the Constitution. You must always anchor yourself on the Constitution,” Aquino said.

Chief Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno and CA Presiding Justice Andres Reyes Jr. as well as the IBP earlier issued statements urging the House to reconsider its show cause order issued against the three CA justices and instead avail itself of legal remedies under the Rules of Court in questioning the CA orders.

Agabin also rebutted the threat of Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez to abolish the CA for overstepping the investigative powers of Congress.

Alvarez and other House leaders behind the show cause order – Fariñas of Ilocos Norte and Rep. Reynaldo Umali of Oriental Mindoro – are lawyers who should know the law, he lamented.

The CA has ordered the release of Pedro Agcaoili, Provincial Planning and Development Office chairperson; Josephine Calajate, provincial treasurer; Eden Battulayan, Provincial Treasurer’s Office staff; Encarnacion Gaor, Provincial Treasurer’s Office staff; Genedine Jambaro, Provincial Treasurer’s Office staff; and Evangeline Tabulog, provincial budget officer.  

They have been detained since May 29 after being cited in contempt by the House committee on good government and public accountability during its probe into the allege motor vehicles anomaly.

The CA also issued a show cause order requiring House sergeant-at-arms Detabali to explain why he should not be cited in contempt for defying the order and twice rejecting the service of the CA ruling.  – With Edu Punay