Duterte to solons: No special treatment, obey traffic rules
President Duterte does not expect any special treatment on the road and expects lawmakers to do the same by obeying traffic rules, Malacañang said on Tuesday.
“The President himself continues to observe a modest lifestyle and he seeks no special treatment whether inside or outside the Palace. We hope our colleagues in Congress, especially allies, can bring themselves to do the same,” Presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella said during a Palace news conference.
House Majority Leader and Ilocos Norte Rep. Rodolfo Fariñas on Monday asked traffic enforcers to extend parliamentary immunity to lawmakers if they violate traffic regulations to attend to urgent legislative tasks.
Fariñas made the appeal during a briefing given to lawmakers by the Inter-Agency Council on Traffic (I-ACT) in connection with its plans, programs, and projects in time for the Yuletide traffic congestions.
“If they introduce themselves as congressmen, don’t bring them to the (police) station because they won’t be able to perform their legislative duties,” Fariñas said.
Abella insisted that traffic laws must be applied to everyone, including lawmakers.
“Let me repeat, we hope our colleagues in Congress and allies can bring themselves to the President’s standards. No special treatment,” he said.
“Law is law, right? It should be blind to all,” he said.
Asked if the Palace would remind the Metro Manila Development Authority not to allow congressmen to get away with breaking traffic rules, Abella said they would let the agency proceed with its work as mandated.
“At this stage, the Palace has not yet come out with any action regarding that matter,” he said. Parliamentary immunity Fariñas later explained that under the Constitution, congressmen and senators have parliamentary immunity and cannot be arrested while Congress is in session if the offense is punishable by not more than six years.
He cited Article VI, Section 11 of the Constitution which 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 the Congress or in any committee thereof.
“Because we are representatives of the Filipino people. When the President is being impeached, we have to vote in the committee whether he will be impeached or not,” he said. “So when you arrest me or issue me a ticket, I won’t be able to vote, we won’t be able to vote (for being late or absent).”
The veteran administration solon later told reporters that even if a congressman’s car runs over a person, the lawmaker should not be apprehended if he is about to attend a legislative session. According to Fariñas, the Speaker can be expected to bring the offending solon to authorities after the session.
“If the case is murder, that’s a serious offense, so investigate it immediately but when it’s only minor offenses, especially traffic (violations) and we introduce ourselves and appeal to you, escort us. If we say that we need to attend to something in Congress, you’ll find out if it’s true or not,” he said.
It is not immediately known whether the parliamentary immunity extends to a solon’s driver who commits traffic infraction or meets a road accident.
“I am strict. We call the roll at 4:00 p.m. but traffic is always bad nowadays,” he said. “So even if we commit (traffic) offenses, don’t apprehend us.”