MANILA, Philippines — Senator Risa Hontiveros on Saturday said Malacañang showed “hypocrisy and selective outrage” on the U.S. Senate committee for approving an amendment that bans the entry to the United States of Philippine government official involved in the detention of Senator Leila de Lima.
Hontiveros said Malacañang defended China when the Chinese government barred former Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales and former Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario at the Hong Kong airport.
The senator then criticized Malacañang when it protested the approval by a U.S. Senate panel of an amendment that would deny the entry to the United States of those responsible for De Lima’s detention.
“Pero ng pinaboran ng isang U.S. Senate panel ang panukalang travel ban sa lahat ng responsable sa hindi makatarungang pagkakabilanggo kay Senator Leila de Lima bilang pakikiisa sa karapatang pantao sa ating bansa, abot hanggang langit ang galit at pag-protesta ng palasyo,” she said.
[When a U.S. Senate panel voted in favor of imposing a travel ban on those responsible for the unjust detention of Senator Leila de Lima in solidarity for the protection of human rights in the country, Malacañang protested it.]
Hontiveros said the travel ban is a warning for those who “rose to power in the Philippines through killings and human rights abuses.”
“The world is watching. And the world will act. There is a day of reckoning. Justice will eventually catch up with all of you,” she said.
‘Travel ban not a big dent’
Former Quezon Rep. Erin Tañada III said the travel ban may not be a big because of Duterte’s aversion to the U.S.
“Gauging from President Duterte’s earlier aversion toward the U.S., this ban being pushed by the U.S. Senate committee may not have a big dent on the Chief Executive himself,” Tañada said in a separate statement.
Tañada, however, Duterte’s “underlings” could get “jittery” over the travel ban.
“But maybe his underlings are silently beginning to get jittery, especially those who love going on so-called official trips to the U.S. and boxing fans who fill the front row of the sports arenas like it is the session hall,” he said.
De Lima is currently detained at the Philippine National Police Custodial Center inside Camp Crame, in Quezon City for drug charges filed against her. /muf