House Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on Monday said she would recommend to the Senate the withdrawal of the Philippines’ membership from the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), a global organization critical of the Duterte administration.
“Well, you know the last time there was an IPU and then-Senate President (Aquilino) Koko Pimentel (III) was (the) head of delegation and he decried the interference of the IPU in our judicial processes,” Arroyo said during an ambush interview on the sidelines of a medical mission in Barangay Escopa in Quezon City.
“This time, over the objection of the Philippine delegation, again they did the same thing so since this is the second time they did it to my knowledge, I am recommending to the Senate which heads the delegation that we should withdraw our membership with the IPU,” she added.
The House leader attended the 139th IPU General Assembly at the Centre for International Conference in Geneva, Switzerland last Oct. 17.
On Sunday, the Geneva-based global organization of national parliamentarians from 178-member states voiced its concern over the alleged human rights violations against two of the fiercest critics of the Duterte administration—opposition Senators Leila de Lima and Antonio Trillanes IV.
De Lima is currently detained on drug charges which she repeatedly claimed as trumped-up and politically motivated while Trillanes’ amnesty was revoked by President Rodrigo Duterte.
READ: Parliamentarians’ union to probe cases of De Lima, Trillanes
The IPU also issued a resolution in March urging the Senate to take steps in ensuring that De Lima fulfill her duties as a duly elected lawmaker by letting her participate in Senate deliberations.
READ: Philippine Senate urged, ‘act in solidarity’ with De Lima
Pimentel slammed the IPU for its “lack of understanding of the Philippine Constitution” and warned the organization against “interference” and “insulting” the country’s sovereignty. /ee
READ: Pimentel hits int’l legislators group: You don’t understand our Constitution