Palace calls US Senate’s passage of resolution backing De Lima as ‘bullying’

MANILA, Philippines — The passage of a US Senate resolution calling for sanctions against Philippine officials behind the detention of opposition Philippine Senator Leila De Lima is a form of “bullying,” Malacañang said Friday.

“These latest actions of the US Senate are a form of bullying on the part of the particular institution of a foreign country,” presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo said in a statement.

But he noted that the government will not be “bullied” especially by “misinformed and gullible politicians who grandstand at our expense.”

The US Senate on Thursday passed a resolution urging US President Donald Trump to impose sanctions pursuant to the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act to members of the Philippine officials responsible for the alleged extrajudicial killings in the country and for “orchestrating” De Lima’s “arrest and prolonged detention.”

For Panelo, the US Senate is “misguided” by “erroneous premise culled from bogus narratives of President Duterte’s usual antagonists” when it passed US Senate Resolution 142.

“Such actions are brazen and intrusive to the dignity of an independent, democratic and sovereign state such as ours,” he added.

If these calls materialize, the Palace official said it would be “a direct and shameless affront” against the Philippines.

However, the Palace said it trusts that the Executive Branch of the US Government is “more discerning and circumspect in the areas of diplomacy and sovereign respect and will act in accordance with credible information and supporting evidence.”

Panelo, who is also Duterte’s legal counsel, reiterated that drug-related deaths in the Philippines are not state-initiated and that De Lima’s case has nothing to do with her political views as she has been accorded due process.

De Lima, a staunch Duterte administration critic, is detained for allegedly abetting an illegal drug trade during her term as a justice secretary in the previous administration. She maintained her innocence and accused the government of fabricating the cases against her.

Edited by KGA