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Rodrigo Duterte —MALACAÑANG PHOTO

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MANILA, Philippines  (Covid-19)
(as of October 5 – 4:00 PM )

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MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine Bar Association (PBA) and human rights group Karapatan denounced on Tuesday President Rodrigo Duterte’s order barring Cabinet members from participating in a Senate inquiry on the government’s allegedly irregular transactions with Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corp., saying it was unconstitutional and an attempt to cover up corruption.

In separate statements, the two groups also condemned Duterte’s directive to the police and military to ignore warrants of arrests issued by the senators against persons declared in contempt for noncooperation by the Senate blue ribbon committee, which is leading the inquiry.

‘Detrimental to people’

“We are of the considered view that the directive of President Duterte, acting as Chief Executive, [upsets] our system of checks and balances and transgresses the doctrine of separation of powers among the three branches of government,” said the PBA, the oldest national organization of lawyers in the country.

The presidential directive, which is contained in an Oct. 4 memorandum signed by Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea, is “detrimental to our people exacting public accountability” for alleged irregularities in the use of public funds “during a pandemic that has cost countless Filipino lives,” it said.

Karapatan said any issue that involved the use of the people’s money, especially during a national health emergency, was a matter of public interest.

“Stifling investigations into these issues infringes upon the public’s right to know,” the group said.

READ MORE:  https://aseanews.net/2021/10/06/headlines-manila-philippines-law-rights-groups-see-cover-up-in-duterte-memo-to-cabinet-on-pharmally-probe/

 

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MANILA, Philippines  (Covid-19)
(as of October 5 – 4:00 PM )