Following the ethics complaint filed by former Sen. Rene Saguisag regarding the treason and sedition charges against the Bangsamoro peace panels, Buhay party-list Rep. Lito Atienza on Friday maintained that the peace process negotiators committed possible legal violations and went beyond their duties.
Atienza said he could not see why Saguisag, a human rights lawyer, deemed 鈥渓ove for country鈥� and 鈥渞espect for the law鈥� as unethical.
READ: Saguisag hits solons鈥� 鈥榯errorism鈥� of peace negotiators
鈥�Ang amin pong pananaw, lumabag sila sa kanilang tungkulin, at masyadong sumobra 鈥檡ung kanilang naibigay. Binigay na nila lahat. Para bang 鈥榟indi bale nang magkaroon ng problema ang bansa, hindi man ngayon pero sa darating na madaling panahon, basta ang importante kaming lahat ay mabigyan ng medalya dito,鈥�鈥� he said in an interview with Radyo Inquirer 990AM.
The former Manila mayor said he was 100 percent sure that House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte would not honor the ethics complaint, which he called as 鈥渂aseless.鈥�
鈥�Mapalad ang peace panel na ang venue na ating napili ay dumaan tayo sa korte. At pag-usapan natin sa korte ito, ito bang ginawa ninyo ay makabayan, ito ba鈥檡 nakabubuti, ito ba鈥檡 naaayon sa ating Saligang Batas o hindi?鈥� he added.
In a letter to Belmonte, Saguisag said the sedition and treason raps filed by Atienza and Abakada Rep. Jonathan de la Cruz was a form of 鈥減rosecutorial terrorism鈥� against the Philippine government and Moro Islamic Liberation Front peace panels.
In May, Atienza and De la Cruz filed the charges against the peace process officials for signing the deal that eventually resulted in the crafting of the draft Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL), which seeks to create a new Bangsamoro entity that would replace the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
READ: Treason, inciting to sedition raps filed vs PH peace panel, MILF over BBL
Atienza said he could not understand the terms that Saguisag used in his complaint, which included the phrase 鈥減remature ejaculation.鈥�
鈥�Hindi ko masakyan. Siguro dapat ipaliwanag ni Senator Saguisag 鈥檡an. Siya lang ang nakakaintindi niyan eh. At meron pang binanggit na premature ejaculation. Eh ako hindi ko naiintindihan 鈥檡an. Masyadong masalimuot 鈥� Hindi ko nararanasan鈥� yun eh. Siguro pwede niyang ipaliwanag,鈥� he said. 鈥�Ganyan ang pag-iisip ni Senator Saguisag eh.鈥�
In his complaint, Saguisag said: 鈥淭he two Congressmen 鈥� have to be probed by their peers as a guide to future action and prevent a repeat of premature ejaculation, as it (was), causing needless departmental tension 鈥� (Atienza and De la Cruz being) at war most needlessly with Malaca帽ang and the Supreme Court is not in the national interest.鈥�
Atienza, who has always been vocal about his opposition to the BBL, said that he was just doing his duty by filing treason and sedition charges against the peace process officials, as the proposed measure would supposedly be detrimental to future generations of Filipinos.
鈥�Ano naman ang mali sa isang congressman na ayaw tumanggap 鈥� maski na mali na 鈥檡ung pinalululon sa amin, maski na ilegal na at hindi ayon sa ating Konstitusyon, ay ating tatanggapin,鈥� he added.