House committee may ‘do a Dayan’ on Imee if she snubs probe—solon
Ilocos Norte Governor Imee Marcos may suffer the same fate as Ronnie Dayan if the former refuses to comply with the subpoena issued by the House of Representatives in connection with its probe on the provincial government’s use of tobacco funds.
In a statement Sunday, Surigao Del Sur Rep. Johnny Pimentel said the good government and public accountability committee he chairs would be ready to issue an arrest warrant against Marcos if she continues to snub the scheduled third hearing on Tuesday.
READ: House committee summons Imee Marcos for failure to attend hearings
Pimentel said Marcos may suffer the same fate as Dayan, the former driver and lover of Senator Leila de Lima, who fled the arrest warrant the House committee issued against him.
Dayan was arrested and detained at the lower house for him to testify against De Lima on allegations that he served as De Lima’s bagman in the alleged Bilibid drug trade. De Lima and Dayan are now in detention as they face drug trade charges.
READ: Dayan brought to House of Representatives for custody
“We do not want to embarrass the Governor. However, if she forces our hand, of course we are ready to do a Ronnie Dayan on her, in accordance with House rules,” Pimentel said.
Dayan was cited in contempt and ordered arrested for snubbing the House probe.
Pimentel said the committee is “absolutely prepared” to have Marcos arrested if she continues to defy the subpoena for her to appear in the committee’s hearing on July 25.
“What we issued was a subpoena and a show cause order why she should not be cited in contempt if she fails to attend the July 25 hearing,” Pimentel said.
Meanwhile, the committee is also ready to free the six Ilocos Norte provincial government officials earlier detained for contempt as long as they would tell all during the scheduled Tuesday hearing.
The officials — Genedine D. Jambaro, Encarnacion A. Gaor, Josephine P. Calajate, Eden C. Battulayan, Evangeline C. Tabulog, and Pedro S. Agcaoili Jr – have been detained at the Batasan Complex since May 29 after being cited in contempt for failing to answer responsively to Fariñas questions.
READ: Bongbong visits 6 Ilocos Norte officials detained for contempt
“We will set them free right away, once they decide to tell the truth about the anomaly. We are really hoping they will change their minds by Tuesday, both for their sake and for the sake of public interest,” Pimentel said.
The six provincial government officials also refused to be served the notices for the hearing, so they would be bodily carried for the third hearing, he added.
“They’ve actually refused to be served notices, so we may have to bodily carry them to the hearing at 1:30pm on Tuesday,” Pimentel said.
For his part, majority leader Rudy Fariñas said the lower house would continue to detain the officials “until they stop their contemptuous act of giving evasive answers, tantamount to refusal to answer” questions in the probe.
Earlier, the Court of Appeals (CA) ordered the lower house to explain why it should not be cited in contempt for refusing to comply with the court’s order to release the detained officials after they were granted the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus.
The officials have been detained since May 29, especially after the House Sergeant-At-Arms refused for the third time to receive the CA’s release order of the provincial government officials.
READ: House defies CA anew on ‘Ilocos 6;’ contempt vs Alvarez readied
Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez said the House would defy the CA, even cursing the justices and threatening to dissolve the appellate court if the latter insists on releasing the officials in spite of the lower house mandate to hold them in contempt.
READ: Speaker Alvarez threatens to dissolve Court of Appeals | Alvarez keeps local execs detained at House in defiance of CA order
It was Fariñas who filed House Resolution 882 calling for an investigation on the Ilocos Norte provincial government’s use of the excise taxes on locally-produced Virginia-type cigarettes which were allegedly misspent on minicabs, buses, and minitrucks even though the law Republic Act 7171 that imposed the tax on Virginia cigarettes states that these should be used for livelihood projects and infrastructure projects benefiting the tobacco farmers.
Fariñas is on his last term in Congress, raising speculations that he would challenge Marcos’ anointed one in the provincial capitol. Marcos is on her last term as governor.
The Fariñas and Marcos clans have been in a love-hate alliance that rocks the political atmosphere of Ilocos Norte every elections.
The Marcoses cut ties with the Fariñases in 2015, reportedly due to political differences. JE/rga
READ: Marcoses’ One-Ilocos Norte crumbles
