Did US budget law sanction de Lima’s freely naming her alleged persecutors?
Credit to Author: The Manila Times| Date: Mon, 30 Dec 2019 16:18:04 +0000
WE are constrained to ask this question because without waiting for the necessary fact-finding investigation by the United States Department of State, Sen. Leila de Lima has proceeded to name names in response to the newly passed US budget law, which seeks in a provision to ban Philippine government officials from entering the US.
The senator has named various officials and some private citizens as responsible for her detention.
De Lima’s list is so loose and freewheeling that bona fide journalists and organizations must also worry that they could be named by the senator as complicit in her detention.
Among the individuals whom Senator de Lima claims are behind her detention are: President Rodrigo Duterte, former House speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, former Justice secretary Vitaliano Aguirre 2nd, Solicitor General Jose Calida, Public Attorneys’ Office chief Persida Acosta, former Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) board member Sandra Cam, Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission Chairman (PACC) Dante Jimenez, Rep. Rey Umali, former congressman Rudy Fariñas, Overseas Workers Welfare Administration Deputy Executive Director and blogger Esther Margaux “Mocha” Uson and The Manila Times columnist Sass Rogando Sasot.
Senator de Lima has also named Mr. RJ Nieto, the pro-Duterte blogger, as one of the persons responsible for her arrest and detention.
Because the budget law provision is the direct result of lobbying by the de Lima camp with some members of the US Senate, it would appear that the senator is at liberty to list whoever she likes or dislikes as persons who should be prohibited entry into the US.
De Lima’s list could lengthen or shorten, depending on her mood or state of mind.
We are not amused that The Manila Times columnist Sass Rogando Sasot has been included in her list.
Theoretically, any journalist could be included in the list, depending on the senator’s fancy.
This is possible because some of our columnists, and the The Manila Times itself, have taken the position that the senator’s detention squarely meets the test of the rule of law, and no less than the Supreme Court has ruled that the de Lima cases were filed in accordance with our laws.
There is nothing extrajudicial about this matter.
The US State Department has so far not acted or commented on the budget law provision.
The law specifically contains an amendment that allows US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to bar those involved in de Lima’s detention from entering the US.
The budget provision on “Prohibition on Entry” authorizes the US Secretary of State to apply subsection (c) to foreign government officials about whom the secretary has “credible information” that they have been involved in the “wrongful” imprisonment of de Lima. The subsection pertains to the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act, which allows the US government to impose sanctions on individuals tied to human rights violations, including prohibiting them from entering the US.
Before the nation is induced to sleep by this entry ban business, we would urge Secretary Pompeo to issue a statement on the matter and spell out the guidelines for prohibiting entry.
On the face of it, this ban only has significance if the personages named by Senator de Lima have a desire to visit the US and slog through its strict immigration laws.
President Duterte was indubitably correct in immediately declaring that he has no intention or desire to visit the US anytime soon, even though he has a standing invitation to visit the US and the White House from President Donald Trump.
When the President made this declaration, the entry ban was rendered innocuous.
This will also happen if all other personages named by Senator de Lima officially declare their indifference to the US entry ban.
There was never any basis for the US to interfere in this purely domestic affair of our republic. By denying it recognition, the ban will have no teeth.