Andanar slams IPU for ‘meddling’ in PH affairs

Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) Secretary Martin Andanar said that InterParliamentary Union’s (IPU) plan to send an observer to monitor the case of detained Senator Leila De Lima is a classic example of bullying and that the country should not allow this kind of interference in the country’s affairs.

“We should stand up to this kind of meddling into our domestic affairs,” Andanar said in a statement.

“Their intent is not to merely observe De Lima’s trial by our laws, but to meddle in our democratic as well as judicial processes,” he added.

Andanar disputed the IPU’s alleged continued pronouncements that portray the Philippines as a “lawless nation.”

“Over and over, pronouncements from the IPU portray the Philippines as a lawless nation when there is abundant evidence to the contrary,” he said.

Last April, the IPU called for a fact-finding mission to the Philippines after it expressed concern over De Lima’s situation.

The following month, the senator was visited by its members.

Aside from visiting De Lima, members of IPU’s human rights committee checked on the alleged extrajudicial killings (EJKs) under the Duterte administration.

“The delegation fails to understand how the accusations against Senator De Lima make sense, given that it was she who took action against the alleged drug trafficking in the NBP (New Bilibid Prisons),” the IPU had said.

The IPU had also aired their concern over the statements of President Duterte and Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II that the organization portrayed De Lima as guilty even before the trial had started.

“The delegation considers that their statements, first and foremost, those of the Head of State, forcibly carried great weight and may put undue pressure on the course of the criminal cases,” the IPU stated.

De Lima is detained at the Philippine National Police headquarters in Camp Crame, Quezon City for her alleged involvement in the illegal drug trade at the NBP.

She was accused of using the proceeds from the trade to fund her senatorial campaign last 2016.

R e c e n t l y, h e r p e t i t i o n s e e k i n g to nullify her arrest over one of the charges against her was dismissed by the Supreme Court.

De Lima, meanwhile, has thanked the IPU for defending her causes and vouching for her integrity.