Senators or members of the House of Representatives suspected of graft or corruption won’t be subject to presidential public shaming, unlike employees of the executive branch, said Malacañang on Tuesday, November 24.

Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque, in a press briefing, said that the reason Duterte declined to name congressmen receiving kickbacks from favored contractors in infrastructure projects was because it is supposedly harder to prove such corruption compared to wrongdoings like involvement in illegal drugs.

“I think it’s evidentiary. The President knows it’s easy to establish corruption of judges who acquit drug lords and it’s harder to prove a series of acts of corruption which were alleged by the Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission (PACC),” Roque said in a mix of English and Filipino.

Roque responded to reporters asking why Duterte had no problem publicly naming judges in his drug lists and publicly accusing Senator Leila de Lima of receiving money from drug traffickers. Judges belong to the judicial branch while De Lima is part of the legislative branch, just like the congressmen Duterte was careful not to name.

De Lima ‘one of a kind’

Asked specifically why Duterte’s restraint did not apply to De Lima, Roque said, “Si Leila de Lima naman po (Leila de Lima is) one of a kind.”

He wrongly claimed that when the President first made his public allegations about De Lima, congressional hearings had already gathered strong evidence to prove her guilt. However, the hearings had not even begun when Duterte made those claims. (READ: TIMELINE: De Lima – from drug probe to arrest)

“Kasi kay Leila de Lima, napakalakas ng ebidensiya na involved siya doon sa kalakalan ng pinagbabawal na droga (Because the evidence was so strong against Leila de Lima that she was involved in the illegal drug trade). So 11 witnesses testified against her,” said Roque.

The 11 witnesses spoke at hearings conducted a month after Duterte publicly accused De Lima of drug trade involvement.

Corrected on air, Roque shifted gears, saying instead that Duterte, as a former prosecutor, could assess the evidence against De Lima even without hearings or a formal investigation by any government entity.

“As lawyers you can evaluate evidence for yourself, especially since the President is a former public prosecutor. Malinaw na malinaw pa sa sikat ng araw ‘yung pananagutan ni Leila de Lima sa illegal drug trafficking (De Lima’s involvement in illegal drug trafficking is as clear as day),” Roque said.

Roque was asked to categorically state in which cases the President deems it fit to investigate a lawmaker and name them publicly.

The spokesman responded: “In offenses which are not within the primary jurisdiction of the Ombudsman such as violation of the anti-graft laws. Where it entails, for instance, heinous crimes involving violations of the anti-drugs law of the country, then the executive can of course investigate that.”

In short, Duterte won’t be investigating or publicly naming lawmakers suspected of graft and corruption, crimes which the Ombudsman has the mandate to probe.

Asked why the President appeared to be sparing powerful lawmakers but subjecting rank-and-file Bureau of Immigration, Bureau of Internal Revenue, or Bureau of Customs personnel to public humiliation, Roque said it is because the latter fall under the executive branch which is supervised by Duterte.

But executive branch has probed lawmakers before

However, Duterte is wrong to say the executive branch can’t catalyze investigations on lawmakers just because they belong to another branch of government.

During the administration of Benigno Aquino III, it was the Department of Justice that filed plunder complaints against senators Juan Ponce Enrile, Jinggoy Estrada, and Bong Revilla over the Janet Lim Napoles pork barrel scam.

It was the PACC, a body under the executive branch, that brought alleged corruption by congressmen to Duterte’s attention.

It’s not clear, however, how far the PACC had gone in investigating the supposed anomalous transactions.

Asked if Duterte’s remarks were a signal to bodies like the PACC to refrain from investigating lawmakers, Roque said, “Hindi po…. Tuloy lang po ang trabaho (No. They should keep doing their job).”

Duterte has notoriously publicized the names of government officials and personnel who he claims are involved in the illegal drug trade.

In 2019, he even released a list of “narco politicians” ahead of national and local elections that year. This fueled criticism that the Chief Executive was politicizing the drug lists and using them to scare off his political opponents.

Duterte’s lists were eventually proven to be riddled with errors, casting doubt on the vetting process and the credibility of the accusations.

In the weeks following Duterte’s declaration of a renewed corruption crackdown, he has taken to reading out loud the names of government personnel who have been suspended by the Office of the Ombudsman. – Rappler.com