Sharing of intel info part of ‘diplomatic relations’ — Palace

Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque. INQUIRER file photo / JOAN BONDOC

There is nothing wrong with the sharing of information from other countries, Malacañang said Wednesday, as President Rodrigo Duterte bared that a foreign country provided evidence that his opponents and the communists are conspiring to oust him.

“The gathering of intel has always been recognized as a function of diplomatic missions,” Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said in a Palace briefing.

Duterte, in a televised tête-à-tête with the presidential legal counsel Salvador Panelo on Tuesday, said he has a copy of the “conversation provided by a foreign country sympathetic to us” between political opponents, the communists, and the Magdalo conspiring to overthrow him.

READ: Duterte: Reds, Magdalo, political rivals plotting to oust me

Roque said intel “is intended to provide you information to avoid eventualities.”

He dismissed criticisms that Duterte’s remarks about intelligence reports on the alleged destabilization against the government was alarming.

“We have regular reports from our own embassies, we also get intel information, that’s the nature of diplomatic relations nowadays,” he said.

“Well, we have been beneficiaries of shared information from the United States about terrorist groups, nothing wrong with that,” he added. 

Impeachment

Roque also downplayed warnings that Duterte’s admission of a foreign intelligence supplying him information about his critics was an impeachable offense.

Law professor Tony La Viña said allowing another country to spy on the Philippines is a culpable violation of the Constitution.

“That’s his personal opinion. Ultimately, whether or not it is impeachable will be a decision of the House of Representatives,” Roque said.

“That’s just an expression of a personal opinion which should not carry much weight,” he added. /je