Miriam snubs hearing on disqualification case

Re-electionist Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago on Monday snubbed the Commission on Election (Comelec) hearing on the disqualification case filed against her for allegedly having an "unsound mind." “Hindi naman niya ito kailangang pagbigyan ng pansin (She does not need to pay any attention to a case like this)," Santiago’s legal counsel, Romulo Macalintal, told GMANews.TV in an interview. "This is a nuisance case." The case was filed by lawyer Nombraan Pangcoga, who said the feisty senator, known for her sharp tongue and fancy rhetoric during speeches, "appears to be suffering from a severe mental disorder." During the hearing, Pangcoga also accused Santiago of graft and corruption and nepotism. Macalintal said Comelec was not the proper forum for the charges. "Kung meron silang mga (If he really has) grounds for graft and corruption, it’s not here, they’re barking up the wrong tree," he said. Pangcoga, in an interview with reporters after the hearing, said Santiago should personally prove to them that the accusations against her are false. “Ngayon na humarap na siya dito, sagutin niya lahat ito (She should face us now, answer all of our questions)," he said. Santiago filed her candidacy last November 27 under the People’s Reform Party, but she is also a guest candidate of five other political groups. Pangacoga is reportedly the former executive assistant for Muslim Affairs to then Executive Secretary Rafael Salas and the former director of the Southern Philippines Development (now the Mindanao Development Authority). - Kimberly Jane Tan/KBK/RSJ, GMANews.TV