Manila – American senator Edward Markey was unfazed despite him being banned from entering the Philippines under President Rodrigo Duterte’s directive.
Markey on Friday said he will not be silenced by the “strongman tactics” of Duterte – as he called for the release of opposition Sen. Leila de Lima anew.
Markey is among the three United States (US) lawmakers barred from entering the Philippines for criticizing the continued detention of de Lima on drug-dealing charges.
“I stand with the people of the Philippines and with my state’s vibrant Filipino-American community in fighting for the highest democratic ideals and against the strongman tactics of the Duterte government,” he said.
Duterte has recently tasked the Bureau of Immigration to bar Markey, Patrick Leahy and Dick Durbin from entering the country for seeking the ban of Filipino officials behind the arrest of de Lima.
If the US pushes through with the ban on Filipino officials over de Lima’s case, Palace said Americans planning to visit the Philippines will be required to secure a visa.
A provision in the US 2020 budget on “Prohibition on Entry” allows US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to bar foreign government officials from entering the US if he has “credible information” on their involvement in the “wrongful imprisonment” of de Lima./PN
