Speaker Davao Del Norte Rep. Pantaleon “Bebot” Alvarez and Senator Leila de Lima. INQUIRER FILE PHOTOS
MANILA — House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez said on Monday he has been rethinking if he should issue an arrest order against Senator Leila de Lima.
The House of Representatives leader is mulling issuing an arrest warrant against De Lima over her refusal to appear at a House inquiry looking into an allegation that she had stopped her former boyfriend and driver, Ronnie Dayan, from attending a congressional investigation on drug trafficking.
Alvarez said the issuance of an arrest warrant “remains an option” should she snub the House justice committee’s show-cause order directing her to explain why she discouraged Dayan from attending the investigation on her alleged ties to the narcotics trade.
But, he noted, such a move might backfire by giving De Lima an opportunity to derive sympathy from the public.
“We have to think about it, because she’s a very scheming person. She might use this to draw sympathy,” Alvarez told reporters on Monday.
Although the House considers the 72-hour deadline for De Lima to respond to the show-cause order to have lapsed on Friday, the chamber is yet to make its move against the opposition senator.
Alvarez said that as of Monday afternoon, he was “still awaiting the recommendation of the chairman of the committee on justice.”
The House justice committee chair, Rep. Reynaldo Umali, said in a Sunday radio interview that they might pursue their legal actions against De Lima “within the week perhaps.”
Among the cases that De Lima may face are: an ethics complaint before the Senate, a disbarment case before the Supreme Court, and criminal cases for obstruction of justice or indirect contempt of the House.
On the other hand, Umali said the committee has still been “mulling” on whether to recommend the arrest of De Lima, especially as the House almost clashed with the Senate over the past week because of a perceived breach of “inter-chamber courtesy.”
“What we’re trying to avoid is pitting ourselves against another institution,” Umali said. SFM