MANILA – Opposition Sen. Franklin Drilon said detained Sen. Leila de Lima should be allowed to do her duties by participating in the Senate’s plenary sessions through teleconferencing.
In a resolution he filed along with Sen. Panfilo Lacson, they said de Lima has a “mandate to participate in the lawmaking process and deliberations of proposed legislation.”
“Her absence unduly deprives the 14-million Filipinos who voted for her as their proper representation in the Senate,” Drilon said. “She could interpellate but could not vote since a lawmaker must be physically present to be able to cast a vote.”
“As a deliberative legislative body, it is incumbent upon the Senate to take necessary measures to ensure that its members will be given every possible opportunity to participate in its plenary sessions,” he added.
Drilon and Lacson recalled that on 2010, the Senate adopted Senate Resolution No. 7 and fully concurred with the opinion of the Senate Legal Counsel in the case of Sen. Antonio “Sonny” Trillanes IV who was then facing coup d’état charges.
The resolution claimed Trillanes’ inability to attend Senate sessions, hearings and meetings “necessarily affects and impairs the capability of the Senate as a whole to discharge its role and functions in the Legislature.”
It added Trillanes’ inability to perform his duties as a duly-elected senator deprived the 11-million citizens, who voted for him.
If adopted, the Resolution will mandate the Senate secretary to coordinate and make appropriate arrangements for the setting of appropriate telephone, video, broadband and/or wireless link necessary for the selected mode of remote participation.
The Senate secretary should safeguard the integrity of the session via teleconferencing and proper archiving of the audio-visual or electronic recording as part of the records of the Senate./PN
