Group files ethics complaint vs Miriam, asks for public apology

A human rights group on Monday filed an ethics complaint against Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago and even asked the feisty senator to issue a public apology for her recent outbursts against the prosecution team during the impeachment trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona.

 

In a letter addressed to Senate ethics committee chairman Sen. Alan Peter Cayateno, the group Born Free Coalition for Truth and Justice and Raphael Intelligence and Security Provider Inc. said they are submitting a complaint against Santiago because she "exceeded the bounds of propriety, good manners, and right conduct in her public tirade as senator judge against the prosecution panel."

 

"We are demanding to the honorable judge Miriam Defensor Santiago to issue a public apology for and in behalf of the Filipino people," the group's head Socorro Guatlo Jr. said in the letter. As of posting time, the office of Santiago has yet to comment on the matter.

 

The group, which introduced itself as a human rights group, specifically cited day 26 of the impeachment trial when the senator called the prosecutors "gago."

 

"The word in her statement against the proseuction is an insult to the member[s] of the [prosecution panel] and indignation to the millions of Filipino[s] who are currently listening and watching the impeachment trial," it said.

 

The group also said that her accusation is an "indirect insult" to the Integrated Bar of the Philippines since most of the prosecutors are lawyers and members of the House of Representatives.

 

"The honorable office of the Senate committee on ethics is required to act [in order not set a] bad preceden[t] to...any member of the Senate...otherwise this office [may no longer enjoy the public's trust]," it said. — RSJ, GMA News