We need limits to parliamentary immunity!

Another bus fell into a ravine in Mindoro Occidental. Nineteen persons were killed and 21 others injured after it fell into a dry river bed in Sablayan, Mindoro Occidental. Initial findings reveal that the Dimple Star bus was passing by a road under repair and that may have triggered a mechanical failure. Once more, an accident like this brings back the issue that I've been writing about for a long time; for the creation of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), which focuses on bus accidents, airplane crashes, or maritime disasters. But despite the numerous articles that we've written on the subject, the Senate has not acted on this issue, until a major accident happens and that's when they talk about it.

One of my favorite TV documentaries is National Geographic's "Air Crash Investigation" wherein they document and use actors to dramatize what happens inside the cockpit and why pilots are often blamed for an airplane accident. But more often than not, airplane accidents are caused by mechanical failure. The same thing with most bus accidents, which are usually caused by faulty brakes or worn-out tires. Just take a look at so many trucks and buses plying the South Road Properties (SRP) today and chances are, their tires are so worn out, they are an accident waiting to happen.

But for as long as we do not create our own version of the NTSB, we will never get the real situation of most buses today and why many of their brakes fail while they are on the road. I know that Sen. Grace Poe and I talked about the creation of the NTSB long before the presidential campaign; I certainly hope that she continues with this advocacy.

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Speaking of the Senate, last Wednesday, 19 of 23 Senators filed a resolution asserting that the absolute parliamentary immunity for speeches delivered in the upper chamber "must be upheld and protected at all times." Why did this issue come about? Apparently, the 19 senators filed Resolution no. 697 less than a week after a Pasay City prosecutor's office recommended the filing of an inciting to sedition case against Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV over a privilege speech last year on President Rodrigo Duterte's alleged undeclared wealth. I recall that Sen. Trillanes said in his speech that Pres. Duterte himself noted that if more than P40 million was found in his accounts, he could be shot and killed by the soldiers.

While there is no question about parliamentary immunity, there should be limits placed on anyone making speeches, destroying the reputation of people, especially when they are making false reports, which are publicly published in many newspapers but are in reality nothing but fake news! It gets worse when these senators use their parliamentary privilege to destroy the reputations of future political enemies, which is an advantage of a sitting senator, but their challengers do not have the same privilege. In my book, this is totally unfair!

The 19 senators noted saying, "The Senate must thwart any attempt to diminish its members' constitutionally guaranteed right to parliamentary immunity and privilege from arrest as it is only with the fullest liberty of speech that legislators can effectively discharge their mandate."

While I may agree with the 19 senators, however what do we do with a person like Sen. Trillanes, who uses his parliamentary immunity to discredit the president and, worse, sells his fake speeches to the International Criminal Court? If you ask me, there should be limits to this parliamentary immunity. Well, according to that report, the senators insisted that only Congress could discipline its members for unparliamentary conduct or disorderly behavior. It makes me wonder if Congress ever even tried to discipline Sen. Trillanes?

If you checked Article 6, Section 11 of the 1987 Constitution, it states that "no member of the Senate or the House of Representatives "shall be questioned nor be held liable in any other place for any speech or debate in the Congress or in any committee thereof." Again I would like to emphasize that if a senator makes a mistake, an apology should be in order, but then have you ever heard of an apology from a senator who destroyed the names of personalities using their parliamentary immunity? No, I haven't!

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