‘Arrogant, discourteous:’ Lacson blasts US reso on De Lima freedom

MANILA, Philippines — Senator Panfilo Lacson on Friday lambasted a US Senate resolution calling for the freedom of Senator Leila de Lima, calling it “arrogant” and “discourteous.”

“Whatever is the reason for the passage of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee resolution calling for Sen de Lima’s release, it is arrogant, discourteous, unparliamentary and unethical,” Lacson said over Twitter.

Whatever is the reason for the passage of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee resolution calling for Sen de Lima’s release, it is arrogant, discourteous, unparliamentary and unethical. The same can be said of a Philippine Senate committee if we did the same.

— PING LACSON (@iampinglacson) December 13, 2019

“The same can be said of a Philippine Senate committee if we did the same,” he added.

The resolution, which was approved by the US Senate committee on foreign relations, called on the Philippine government to “drop all charges” against De Lima and Ressa, and allow the opposition senator to fully discharge her legislative mandate.

It also called on US President Donald Trump to “impose sanctions” against security forces and officials responsible for “orchestrating” De Lima’s arrest and detention, which include revoking their US visas and freezing their assets.

De Lima, a staunch critic of the Duterte administration, has been in detention inside Camp Crame – headquarters of the Philippine National Police – since February 2017 on drug charges, which the lady senator has repeatedly denied and branded as “trumped-up.”

Two other senators have also rejected the resolution, saying that the Philippines is no longer a colony of the US.