MANILA, Philippines – House Deputy Minority Leader Jose Christopher “Kit” Belmonte defended his allies in the opposition, including Vice President Leni Robredo, against the sedition charges filed against them.

In a privilege speech on Tuesday, August 6, Belmonte reminded his colleagues in the House of Representatives that speaking the truth is not equal to inciting to sedition. 

“Mga kasama, last I checked, hindi bawal magsalita. Last I checked, kasama sa tungkulin ng bawat mamamayan – lalo na tayong mga naglilingkod [na] kinatawan dito sa Kongreso – na igiit ang tingin nilang tama, na makipag-debate sa isa’t isa o sa gobyerno, para maging mas makabuluhan ang mga desisyon ng ating pamahalaan,” the Quezon City 6th district congressman said.

(My colleagues, last I checked, it’s not illegal to speak. Last I checked, it is part of our duty as citizens – especially for us who serve as representatives in Congress – to insist on what we think is right, to debate with each other or with the government so it would make more meaningful decisions.)

“Last I checked, ang katotohanan ay katotohanan pa rin, at hindi inciting to sedition (Last I checked, the truth is still the truth, and it is not inciting to sedition),” he added.  

Belmonte is the secretary-general of the once-ruling Liberal Party. Several members of the political party, including its chairperson Robredo, are facing sedition complaints lodged by the Philippine National Police’s Criminal Investigation and Detection Group. 

The police accused the Vice President, opposition senators Leila de Lima and Risa Hontiveros, former senators Antonio Trillanes IV and Bam Aquino, priests, bishops, lawyers, and Liberal Party staff and allies of involvement in the so-called Project Sodoma to allegedly oust President Rodrigo Duterte.

The sedition complaint was anchored on the allegations of Peter Joemel Advincula of the viral Bikoy videos. 

The respondents of the complaint are mostly key figures of the opposition movement, who have long been criticizing Duterte’s bloody war on drugs as well as his pacifist view on Chinese presence in the West Philippine Sea. 

“Is it sedition when we call out false narratives that build fear and anxiety and provide a pretext for impunity?… Is it sedition when we call out false priorities that put death sentences over life-giving aid? Is it sedition when we call out false logic that presents us with false choices that tell us that there is either war or subservience, and nothing in between?” Belmonte asked in a mix of English and Filipino.

“‘Yan ang mga alam kong sinasabi ni VP Leni at ng mga kapwa niyang akusado. Hindi po sedition ‘yan,” he added. (These are the things I know VP Leni and her co-accused are saying. That is not sedition.) 

Belmonte then tagged as “fictitious” all allegations against Robredo, who have repeatedly said LP neither have the intention nor the resources to oust the President. (READ: Robredo ‘ready to face trumped up charges’ in sedition complaint) 

The Vice President had earlier dismissed the sedition complaint as “laughable,” adding that she is “not stupid enough to imagine we can oust a popular President with high ratings…by using someone who is obviously lying.” – Rappler.com