Imee Marcos calls on House to release ‘Ilocos Six’

FILE – Ilocos Norte Gov. Imee Marcos arrives at the Court of Appeals in Manila on June 8, 2017, to attend the third hearing on the petition for habeas corpus in support of the so-called Ilocos Six, officials and employees of her provincial government who had been cited in contempt and ordered detained by the House Commitee on Good Government and Public Accountability. She is her lawyer, Estelito Mendoza. (Photo by RICHARD A. REYES / Philippine Daily Inquirer)

Ilocos Norte Gov. Imee Marcos urged the  leadership of the House of Representatives to comply with the order of the Court of Appeals for the immediate release of the “Ilocos Six.”

While she maintained the regularity of all transactions surrounding the purchase of motor vehicles being investigated, she reiterated her willingness to cooperate with the House probe on the province’s use of its tobacco excise tax share.

She added that the transactions in question are above board as cleared by the Commission on Audit and all the units bought can be seen by anyone who would wish to visit her province, debunking allegations that these were “ghost purchases.”

Marcos said the continued detention of the provincial employees for over a month now has brought “immeasurable emotional and psychological anguish to them and their families.”

“I appeal, for humanitarian reasons, to the House leadership to set free the Ilocos Six. They have suffered more than enough. Please allow them to go home. You have families too, and you know the pain of being separated from them,” Marcos said, in a statement issued through her lawyer, former Solicitor General Estelito Mendoza.

“They have already testified to the best of their knowledge. Forcing them, through prolonged detention, to give false testimony just to satisfy the Committee is tantamount to compelling them to commit perjury. Please, set them free,” Marcos said.

The six employees – Josephine Calajate, Encarnacion Gaor, Genedine Jambaro, Evangeline Tabulog, Pedro Agcaoili Jr. and Eden Battulayan – were cited for contempt by the House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability during its probe into the local government’s purchase of motor vehicles amounting to P66.45 million, the funding of which was sourced from its share of tobacco excise taxes.

The appeals court ordered their release but Congress refused to comply with, even threatening the justices that they will be cited in contempt.