MANILA — Minority Leader Danilo Suarez has filed a resolution expressing the support of the House of Representatives to the proposed withdrawal of the Philippines’ membership from the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU).
Suarez filed House Bill 2270 on Tuesday following Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s recommendation to pull out of the IPU over its interference in the country’s judicial processes. A copy of the bill was sent to House media on Wednesday.
In his resolution, Suarez said that the international lawmakers’ group “stepped outside its boundaries with its interference in the country’s judicial processes which runs counter to the principle of State sovereignty.”
Suarez cited the two IPU resolutions on its investigation of the cases of Senators Leila de Lima and Antonio Trillanes IV.
“Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has recommended the withdrawal of our membership from the Inter-Parliamentary Union after the IPU expressed its intention to visit the country to investigate further on the cases of the said government officials,” Suarez said in the resolution.
“Be it resolved, as it is hereby resolved, for the House of Representatives to express its support for the withdrawal of the membership of the Philippines from the Inter-Parliamentary Union,” Suarez added. (Filane Mikee Cervantes/PNA)
