Lagman slams NBP probe as shame campaign vs De Lima

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Lagman slams NBP probe as shame campaign vs De Lima

RG Cruz,

ABS-CBN News

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Albay Representative Edcel Lagman on Wednesday dismissed the recently concluded House Justice Committee probe into the illegal drug trade at the New Bilibid Prison as a "shame" campaign.

In a statement, Lagman said the investigation "was a malevolent odyssey to publicly shame Senator [Leila] De Lima and de-fang her campaign against extra-judicial killings related to President [Rodrigo] Duterte's deadly drive against the drug menace and criminality."

He explained, he did not attend and participate in the Committee on Justice investigation because the findings were pre-determined and were foregone conclusions that there exists a narcotic trade in the New Bilibid Prison and that it is linked to De Lima.

Lagman maintained, it was not necessary to investigate the existence of a drug enterprise in the national penitentiary because this has been previously validated and raids were even conducted.

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"It is an open secret and the only thing lacking is the prosecution of the culpable convicts," he said.

He also underscored that the House committee has no jurisdiction to find De Lima culpable because "the jurisdiction belongs to the prosecutorial agency of the government."

Lagman also said there was a comedy of errors from the start of the investigation because the inmates and the NBI agents brought in as witnesses by Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre were "under his jurisdiction," because the Bureau of Corrections and the National Bureau of Investigation are both attached agencies to the Department of Justice (DOJ).

He added, many of the witnesses were assisted by lawyers from the Public Attorney's Office (PAO), which is another agency under the the DOJ.

The active participation of the Secretary of Justice in introducing his witnesses and propounding questions to them, noted Lagman, "violated the Rules of the House on legislative inquiries in aid of legislation." Resource persons, which Aguirre was during the inquiry, he said, are limited to making their statements and answering questions from the solons.

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"Any eventual prosecution arising from the inquiry will be submitted to the Secretary of Justice and investigated by the prosecutors under him to determine probable cause. Consequently, the Secretary of Justice is both inquisitor and judge," he said.

"The Secretary of Justice, being the alter ego of the President, cannot actively participate in legislative proceedings in view of the principle of separation of powers between the Legislature and the Executive," he added.

SUPPORT FOR AGOT

Lagman and his allies in his bloc in Congress on Tuesday also rallied support to actress Agot Isidro, who has come under fire for calling the president a "pyschopath."

Lagman, for one, encouraged more criticisms of the Duterte administration, emphasizing that "freedom of expression must not be cowed by fear of rebuke, condemnation, reprisal or vengeance or negative outbursts from supporters of the president."

"You measure the president many ways. That was how Agot measured the president. That's part of freedom of expression and the government should be able to respect the inalienable right of the people to criticize the officials they installed in power."

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Akbayan Representative Tom Villarin, meanwhile, encouraged more people to "be like Agot Isidro who calls out the emperor with no clothes."

"The problem now is the the Duterte government wants, the zeitgeist of this new government is they want us to be like the boiling frog syndrome," he said.

"Like frog in boiling water, instantly it comes out. Put a frog under cold water, bring it slowly to boil, di nararamdaman ng palaka [the frog will not feel it]. The frog dies not knowing boiling water surrounding him."

"This climate of being numb, di dapat tayo pumasok sa ganun [we must not enter it]," he added.

Ifugao Rep. Teddy Baguilat, for his part, highlighted that it is part of Isidro's freedom of expression to do that, but maintained that he personally would "not go to such lengths branding the president as a psychopath."

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He said, it is important to find out where Isidro is coming from.

"Is that a reaction to the statements of the President tungkol sa [about the] foreign aid? On that premise, I agree with it. I may say that the president has been erratic, provocative in his foreign policy pronouncements. That may be my description," he said.

Duterte reacted to the “psychopath” remark on Tuesday as well, saying that he would rather “leave her to the Constitutional right to free expression.”

“She should enjoy that,” he said.

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