Senate President Francis Escudero on Wednesday said it is up to Senator Ronald Dela Rosa to heed the House invitation to attend the hearing on the bloody drug war during the administration of former President Rodrigo Duterte.
Escudero noted that inter-chamber courtesy dictates that the House may issue invites to members of the Senate. However, Escudero emphasized that the House cannot and should not issue a compulsory process against a member of a co-equal chamber.
The same rules, Escudero said, apply to the Senate vis-a-vis House members. “It is an invite, and the invitee may voluntarily go or decide not to,” Escudero said.
As this developed, former Senator Leila de Lima urged President Marcos Jr. to cooperate with the International Criminal Court’s investigation into the former President’s the bloody drug war.
Marcos “must consider aiding the enforcement” of a potential arrest warrant for Duterte, she said in an interview with ABS-CBN.
De Lima said this is an opportune moment for Marcos to show the international community that he promotes and protects human rights.
According to Escudero, Dela Rosa has expressed to him his position, and at this time, Dela Rosa “is not inclined to attend.”
“I told him that I support whatever decision he will arrive at regarding this matter. I will always be a vanguard and guard the rights, privileges, and prerogatives of the Senate and members of the Senate,” Escudero said.
Earlier, Dela Rosa said he would not attend the House hearing upon the advice of Escudero.
Although he has not received an official invitation yet from the House Committee on Human Rights, Dela Rosa said he sought Escudero’s guidance following the recent developments in the Lower House.
“I sought the advice of the Senate President on what to do. For me, there’s no problem, I can face them anytime. But still, I have to follow the guidance of the Senate President being a member of the institution, the Senate of the Philippines,” Dela Rosa said.
According to Dela Rosa, Escudero told him that “you don’t have to attend.”
Dela Rosa clarified he is only following the long-time tradition in the Senate to follow the Senate President.
“We have to seek guidance because that is an enshrined practice, tradition among chambers of legislature to observe inter-parliamentary courtesy,” he said. “Every time you make an official act, the Senate leadership knows that to avoid blaming each other if you will make your own decision.”
At the same time, Dela Rosa challenged those saying that he and former President Rodrigo Duterte should be held accountable for their roles in the campaign against illegal drugs to file appropriate cases in Philippine courts.
“If she has the goods, then by all means you have to file the case against us…We are ready to face any court in the Philippines,” he said.
