MANILA — Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo on Wednesday dared Senator Antonio Trillanes IV not to hide behind the cloak of parliamentary immunity while making unsubstantiated accusations against President Rodrigo Duterte.
Panelo made the challenge following fresh accusations by Trillanes against the President.
In a privilege speech delivered Tuesday, Trillanes claimed that Malacañang paid a certain Daniel “Snooky” Cruz some PHP10 million for details of Trillanes’ alleged offshore accounts.
Panelo said the claim of the opposition senator goes against common sense.
He said that being the President, Duterte has lots of access to information all over the world and does not need to pay for them.
“It’s doubtful na magbibigay siya ng pera sa isang tao, because by the very nature of his position ay meron nga siyang access (It’s doubtful that he will give money to a person, because by the very nature of his position, he has access.),” Panelo said in a radio interview.
He said that if Trillanes really believes that what he is saying is true, the senator should deliver his speech outside of Congress.
“Why is he hiding behind his parliamentary immunity? Because ang ginagawa niya sinisiraan niya ang mga maraming tao, marami siyang pinangangalanan. Marami siyang inaakusahan, si Presidente at iyong iba pang mga binanggit niya (It’s because he destroys many people. He names many people. He accuses many people, the President and others whom he have mentioned),” he said.
“Kung talagang totoo ang sinasabi niya (If he is really telling the truth), I challenge him to deliver his speech outside of Congress. So that he cannot invoke his parliamentary immunity,” Panelo said.
Section 11, Article VI of the 1987 Constitution states that: “A Senator or Member of the House of Representatives shall, in all offenses punishable by not more than six years imprisonment, be privileged from arrest while the Congress is in session. No member shall be questioned nor be held liable in any other place for any speech or debate in Congress or in any committee thereof.”
Meanwhile, Trillanes also said that Duterte allegedly bought his four children investment-earning insurance worth PHP20 million each on April 1, 2014.
Panelo said he has no knowledge of such transactions but repeated his challenge to the senator.
“Hindi ko alam iyon. (I don’t know anything about it.) Now, as I said I will repeat only what I said earlier, I challenge this Trillanes to deliver his speech outside of Congress para magkaalamanan na (I challenge this Trillanes to deliver his speech outside of Congress so that we will know everything),” Panelo said. (PNA)