Sen. Imee Marcos. (Screen grab / Senate PRIB)
MANILA, Philippines — Election watchdog Kontra Daya on Saturday urged Senator Imee Marcos to resign as chairperson of the Senate committee on electoral reforms amid the investigation on the alleged data breach at election system provider Smartmatic.
According to Kontra Daya convenor Danilo Arao, Senator Imee Marcos seating as the chairman of the Senate panel “leaves a bad taste in the mouth” as her brother former senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos is running for president.
“There is a certain degree of optics involved doon sa parang awkward moment na ang naglilead ng imbestigasyon ay kapatid ng kasalukuyang tumatakbo para sa pagkapangulo,” Arao said at the Annabel’s media forum.
(There is a certain degree of optics involved in that awkward moment when the one leading the investigation is the sister of a presidential candidate.)
“Kaya nga ang panawagan din ng Kontra Daya, hindi naman kailangan magresign ni Imee Marcos sa Senado, pero magresign naman sana siya bilang chair ng Senate committee on electoral reforms,” he added.
(That’s why Kontra Daya is also calling for Imee Marcos to resign as chair of the Senate committee on electoral reforms. She does not need to resign as senator.)
Arao said a legislative inquiry in aid of legislation on the issue of Smartmatic is just proper.
However, he noted that there are other senators who can “step-up” so that there will be a “certain degree of independence” in the investigation.
“So our call extends not just to Imee Marcos but also to other senators na tumatakbong pangulo o pangalawang pangulo, lalo na si Senator [Vicente] Sotto na nagsasalita hinggil din doon sa inquiry,” said Arao.
(So our call extends not just to Imee Marcos but also to other senators running for president or vice president, especially Senator Sotto who is speaking about the inquiry.)
“We can understand that he is speaking in his capacity as Senate President, kaya lang (but) a sense of propriety and delicadeza should be the order of the day. So sana tumahimik na lang muna siya dahil party in interest siya dito sa isyung ito (we hope he will just be silent because he is a party in interest in this issue),” he added.
But in a text message to INQUIRER.net, Sotto cited freedom of speech and his duties as Senate President.
“What happened to the freedom of speech? Should I be remiss of my job as Senate President and not participate in overseeing work of the Electoral Reforms Committee? I cannot understand their intentions!” he said when asked to comment on Arao’s statement.
“So what if I’m a candidate? Precisely we should all make sure the elections are clean, honest and credible!” he added.
‘Historical denialism’
Meanwhile, Arao also pointed out that the Marcoses are engaging in “historical denialism” about martial law imposed by their patriarch, Ferdinand Marcos Sr.
Arao said the Marcoses talk about the supposed glory days of martial law when all peer-reviewed articles point to atrocities during the Marcos regime.
He also stressed that there is no peer-reviewed article that could prove the so-called glory days of military rule in the Philippines.
“In that context, doon natin dapat i-call out ‘yung mga Marcos kasi they are crying fraud pero they are doing fraud themselves mainly through historical denialism,” said Arao.
(We should call out the Marcoses in that context, that they are crying fraud but they are doing fraud themselves mainly through historical denialism.)
“We are not accusing the Marcos camp as early as now na sila ay engaged sa mas large scale na fraud (that they are engaged in a large scale fraud), but we can call out the Marcoses as early as now for engaging in historical denialism which is an important component of election fraud,” he added.
INQUIRER.net has sought the comments of Senator Imee Marcos and Bongbong Marcos’ spokesman Victor Rodriguez on Arao’s statements.
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