Amb. Markus Lacanilao cited for contempt for `lying’
Senate of the Philippines. File photo
MANILA, Philippines — The Senate panel on foreign relations cited for contempt Special Envoy on Transnational Crime Ambassador Markus Lacanilao for allegedly lying during the chamber’s public hearing probing former President Rodrigo Duterte’s arrest.
Sen. Bato dela Rosa made the motion during the panel’s Thursday hearing after Lacanilao repeatedly stated that he was not aware whether or not Duterte was brought to a local court before he was transported to The Hague, Netherlands.
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“You are there the whole time from the tube. In Villamor, you’re there. And yet you were not aware whether or not he was brought to a judicial authority?” asked Dela Rosa in a mixture of Filipino and English.
Lacanilao answered yes.
At this point, dela Rosa accused Lacanilao of lying, leading him to move for the contempt citation of the latter.
`Move to cite for contempt’
“I move to cite [for] contempt Ambassador Lacanilao,” said Dela Rosa.
Sen. Imee Marcos, who was presiding over the hearing as panel head, gave Lacanilao a “last chance” to “tell the truth,” but Lacanilao insisted that he did not know.
With this, the motion to cite Lacanilao for contempt was approved by Marcos.
Secretary of Justice Jesus Crispin Remulla interjected, asking that the contempt citation be reversed. This, however, was not granted by Marcos.
Duterte was arrested on March 11 by the power of a warrant from the ICC which charged him of crimes against humanity for the bloody drug war he orchestrated when he was still in power.
But President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., had already brushed off claims that Duterte’s arrest was a political persecution.
According to the President, the government only complied with the International Criminal Police Organization otherwise known as the Interpol. He also emphasized that his administration did not cooperate with the ICC regarding Duterte’s case.
