Female solon on De Lima’s suit vs Duterte: Not a gender issue

Senator Leila de Lima. GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE/INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

Two female deputy speakers in the House of Representatives and staunch allies of President Rodrigo Duterte backed  the President’s immunity from suit and said Senator Leila de Lima’s suit against Duterte is not a gender rights issue.

In a press conference at the House of Representatives on Monday, Cebu Rep. Gwen Garcia said De Lima has the constitutional right to sue but maintained that insofar as the President is concerned, Duterte is immune from suit.

Garcia added that De Lima’s petition for habeas data should not be a gender-sensitive issue.

“It is a constitutionally guaranteed right to sue. It should not be a matter of trying to make this a gender-sensitive issue. Whoever feels that they are harassed, that is a constitutional right to avail of, man or woman,” Garcia said.

Garcia said De Lima should have filed an impeachment complaint in Congress instead of filing a petition before the Supreme Court.

“As far as we know, as far as other past administrations are concerned, the President is immune from suit. And if ever we have any grievance to be brought against him, then an impeachment complaint can be filed against the President,” Garcia said.

For her part, Taguig Rep. Pia Cayetano also said it is a long-standing policy that a President is immune from suit during his or her term.

“It’s been a long-standing policy that the President is immune from suit… I’m not aware that there’s any reason to change that,” Cayetano said.

Cayetano, a former senator, is the sister of Senator Alan Peter Cayetano, the running mate of Duterte in the 2016 elections.

De Lima on Monday filed the test case against Duterte, with whom she had crossed swords since she, as a human rights commission chief, led an investigation into the involvement of Duterte in the Davao Death Squad when the latter was Davao City mayor.

READ: De Lima files test case vs Duterte’s immunity from suit 

De Lima cited the attacks on her womanhood by Duterte which she said were outside his acts as President.

Duterte has called De Lima an “immoral woman” for allegedly having a relationship with her former driver, whom he also accused of being De Lima’s bagman in the drug trade at the New Bilibid Prison.

READ: Duterte blasts female senator: She’s ‘immoral’, an ‘adulterer’

In her 20-page petition for habeas data, De Lima said that “the verbal attacks on petitioner’s womanhood and threats on her person are not covered by presidential immunity from suit because they are not the official act of a President.”

Habeas data is a constitutional remedy that may be sought to protect the image, privacy and freedom of information of a person. It can also be used to find out what information is being held about a citizen.

De Lima said Duterte’s discriminatory remarks against her constitute psychological violence prohibited by Republic Act 9710 or the Magna Carta of Women.

She also said Duterte’s personal attacks against her violated the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees.

Presidential spokesperson Ernesto Abella has said De Lima was using her gender as a shield to protect herself from accusations of drug activities.

“By portraying herself as a victim she seeks to distance herself from the intimate relationships which were also intertwined with drug trafficking while she was Department of Justice Secretary,” Abella said in a statement.

READ: Palace: De Lima using gender as shield vs drug link accusations 

The House of Representatives justice committee, which held marathon hearings on the Bilibid drug trade, found De Lima responsible for the proliferation of the drug trade at the national penitentiary allegedly to raise campaign funds for her senatorial candidacy. But it fell short of recommending criminal and administrative charges against her. JE/rga

READ: House justice body: Bilibid drugs flourished under De Lima’s watch 

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