Sotto: Duterte ‘not serious at all’ about suspending writ of habeas corpus

Senate Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III on Tuesday said President Rodrigo Duterte was “not serious at all” about suspending the writ of habeas corpus.

“I don’t think the President is serious in considering it at all…It was just a passing thought,” Sotto told reporters in an interview.

Sotto, along with 10 other senators, attended a meeting with Duterte in Malacañang Monday night to prepare for the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC) slated to be held on December.

Duterte earlier said he may be forced to suspend the writ of habeas corpus if lawlessness in Mindanao does not stop.

“There is a rebellion being waged down in Mindanao. At kung magkalat still itong lawlessness, I might be forced to... ayaw ko, ayaw ko, warning ko lang sa kanila yan kasi hindi maganda. But if you force me to hand into it, I will declare the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus,” Duterte said.

A writ of habeas corpus gives a person the right to contest before the court his or her arrest and detention.

It serves as an instrument for safeguarding individual freedom against arbitrary government action.

Senate President Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III, who was also in the meeting, said Duterte was only “thinking out loud.”

“Nasabi lang niya na he was only thinking out loud na ano ba yung mga weapons or ammunition or methods available to him,” Pimentel said.

“Walang sinabi kung itutuloy ba,” he added.

Pimentel said most of the meeting focused on the problem of illegal drugs in the country, which the President promised to eradicate during his term.

The Senate leader said Duterte showed members of the legislative chamber the “enormity of the drug problem.”

“Maybe six-inches thick of names ‘yun; of government officials pa lang. Wala pa doon yung outside of government,” Pimentel said.

Also discussed during the meeting were the tax reform package, the proposal to reimpose death penalty, and the budget reform bill, among others. — VVP, GMA News