MANILA - The House of Representative issued Tuesday a show
cause order against Senator Leila de Lima for her failure to face the
congressional inquiry on the narcotics trade in the national penitentiary.
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| Senator De Lima. Voltaire Domingo, NPPA Images |
House committee on justice chairman Reynaldo Umali said the
order also stems from De Lima's move to discourage her former driver-bodyguard
and alleged bagman, Ronnie Dayan, from appearing at the investigation.
De Lima has been given 72 hours to explain her side on the
issue, Umali said.
The senator earlier confirmed that she had advised Dayan to
snub the subpoena issued by lower chamber through a Viber message that was read
by Dayan’s daughter during the House hearing.
De Lima told me to snub House probe - Dayan
De Lima, however, said she will not honor the show cause
order as she was merely protecting herself from "persecution."
The show cause order has triggered a potential showdown
between the two legislative chambers, with senators saying their counterparts
at the lower chamber should respect the principle of inter-parliamentary
courtesy, the tradition of both houses not to intrude into their own affairs.
De Lima’s colleague, Senator Panfilo Lacson, urged the lower
house to file a complaint against De Lima before the Senate ethics committee
instead.
But Umali clarified that the Senate is not blocking the
order.
He said he met with several senators on Monday night, and
both parties have agreed that if De Lima snubs the order, congressmen will file
an ethics complaint against her before the Senate and a regional trial court.
-- Report from Robert Mano, DZMM
Source: abs-cbn
