Palace urges Imee: Invite international experts

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MANILA, Philippines — The Senate foreign relations committee should invite international law experts to its next hearing on the arrest of former president Rodrigo Duterte so it can entertain diverse views and leave its chairperson, Sen. Imee Marcos, “more enlightened,” Malacañang said yesterday.

“It would be better if Sen. Imee Marcos hears not just a single view. She can invite experts who are often interviewed and who provide opinions that differ from attorney Alex Medina,” Presidential Communications Undersecretary Claire Castro said at a briefing yesterday, referring to one of the resource persons during the hearing last April 3. The committee will hold its next hearing – its third – tomorrow.

“If we hear just one expert, we cannot have a balanced understanding and she will be more confused,” Castro said.

“This is just a suggestion...we are not issuing an order,” she added. “Perhaps, through other international law experts, other lawyers who have different opinions, she might no longer need other Cabinet members to craft a law.”

Medina, a law professor, said during the previous committee hearing that under the Constitution, a lawful order of the court is required if a person is to be expelled from the Philippine territory.

He also argued that a surrender without judicial proceedings might amount to a violation of the liberty of abode guaranteed under the Bill of Rights.

Late last month, Senator Marcos released the preliminary findings of her committee, pointing to “glaring violations” of Duterte’s rights during his arrest.