ETHICS COMPLAINT VS. DE LIMA, SINIMULAN NANG TALAKAYIN SA SENADO

MANILA, Philippines—Members of the Senate committee on ethics and privileges on Tuesday vowed to resolve with dispatch the complaint that a lawyer filed against Sen. Leila de Lima in connection with allegations of her involvement in the illegal drug trade.

In a roughly hour-long hearing, the committee, chaired by Senate Majority Leader Vicente “Tito” Sotto III, agreed to immediately schedule the next meeting even as they adjourned to give way to an amended complaint that lawyer Abelardo de Jesus filed hours earlier.

“We cannot keep this dragging. There’s urgency to resolve this complaint,” Sen. Panfilo Lacson told the body just before it adjourned.

In an interview, Sotto said he would readily send copies of De Jesus’ amended complaint to the body’s seven members so that they could assess the case within the week.

“Hopefully we will be able to call a hearing Thursday morning,” Sotto said.

“We should act on it as soon as possible so that we won’t be accused of pressing it on Sen. De Lima, or that we are saving her immediately. I don’t want people to think that way, so we would like to act as early as we can,” he told reporters.

During the hearing, the committee held initial discussions on the complaint, debating whether or not the body should first rule on whether or not it had jurisdiction over the case, or if the complaint had form and substance.

Senate President Pro Tempore Franklin Drilon cited the case of former Sen. Luisa “Loi” Ejercito Estrada, wife of former President and now Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada, who faced an ethics complaint in 2001 but was absolved as her alleged violation happened during her time as first lady.

The case, Drilon said, was dismissed for lack of jurisdiction.

“Since it occured when she was not yet a member of the Senate, the committee cannot take jurisdiction… It clearly shows by precedent that jurisdiction must be determined first before we go into form and substance,” Drilon told the committee.

The matter has yet to be settled. Sotto said he would prefer that the two issues—jurisdiction, and form and substance—be settled at the same time.