By Filane Mikee Cervantes/PNA
MANILA — A House of Representatives’ panel on Tuesday approved a resolution expressing the chamber’s support for the proposed withdrawal of the Philippines’ membership from the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU).
The House committee on Inter-Parliamentary Relations and Diplomacy, chaired by Ilocos Sur Rep. Eric Singson, approved House Resolution 2270 upon the motion of MATA Party-list Rep. Tricia Velasco-Catera. No member objected to the motion.
Minority Leader Danilo Suarez filed the resolution in October following Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s recommendation to pull out of the IPU over its interference in the country’s judicial processes.
In his resolution, Suarez said 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 in 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.
