Panelo will not mind being denied entry to the US

After US Senators Patrick Leahy and Dick Durbin proposed that Philippine government officials involved in the imprisonment of Senator Leila De Lima be denied entry to the US, Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said on Monday that he did not mind being barred from entering the United States.

“I’ve been there several times over,” Panelo told reporters. “It’s not the only country that you can go to and enjoy the sights and the sounds.”

Panelo nevertheless reiterated that the proposal, approved by the US Senate Appropriations Committee, was a “brazen attempt” to intrude into Philippine’ domestic legal processes.

He also argued that De Lima was accorded due process.

“I cannot understand where this Senator Leahy and another one, Senator Durbin, are coming from. The problem with them is that they listen to the critics of the administration and believe what they hear or what they receive as info hook, line, and sinker,” Panelo said.

“They say there is wrongful imprisonment and it’s very clear that there is none.”

De Lima is on trial over allegations that she tolerated the illegal drug trade inside the New Bilibid Prison during her time as Justice Secretary in exchange for contributions to her senatorial campaign.

A critic of President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs, the lawmaker has repeatedly denied the charges that she and her supporters claimed were politically motivated. — DVM, GMA News