Palace not bothered by US plan to ban PHL execs linked to De Lima’s imprisonment

Malacañang remains unfazed by the enactment of a bill that bans the entry into the United States of Philippine government officials involved in the detention of opposition Senator Leila de Lima.

“We are not bothered by it,” presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo said at a news conference Monday.

Panelo said the prohibition, which was contained in the US Fiscal Year 2020 State and Foreign Operations Appropriations Bill signed recently by US President Donald Trump, could only be enforced if US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had “credible information” about Filipino officials linked to De Lima’s “wrongful imprisonment.”

The Palace official said De Lima is not wrongfully detained, repeating the government’s argument that the senator was accorded due process.

“How can that be a wrongful detention?” Panelo said. “If that is trumped up charge, then the prosecutor could have seen it as well as the judicial officer who issued the warrant.”

He expressed hope that Pompeo would “follow his informed judgment” regarding De Lima’s case.

Panelo also said it is up to the Department of Foreign Affairs to make the necessary communication with the US government regarding the Philippines’ position on the legislation.

De Lima has been detained since February 2017 at the Philippine National Police Custodial Center in Camp Crame, Quezon City over allegations that she let the illegal drug trade to proliferate inside the New Bilibid Prison during her term as justice secretary supposedly in exchange for funds for her senatorial campaign in 2016.

She has repeatedly denied the charges that she and her supporters claimed were politically motivated. — RSJ, GMA News