Solon slams Aguirre for filing ethics complaint vs. Hontiveros

A lawmaker on Monday slammed Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II for filing an ethics complaint against Senator Risa Hontiveros, branding the move a "Leilanization" of those who oppose injustices in the admininstration.

"Matapos nilang ikulong si Senator Leila de Lima, ngayon naman, si Senator Risa ang pinupuntirya nila. Dahil ba ito sa pagkupkop ni Senator Risa sa mga testigo sa pagpatay kay Kian delos Santos upang masigurado ang kaligtasan nila?" Dinagat Islands Representative Kaka Bag-ao said in a statement.

De Lima, a vocal critic of President Rodrigo Duterte's administration, has been detained in the PNP Custodial Center since February on drug-related charges.

Aguirre filed the complaint after Hontiveros' privilege speech on September 11, in which she claimed to have discovered—through a photo that showed text messages—that Aguirre and former Negros Oriental representative Jacinto Paras were planning to file cases against her.

She said the photo was taken by a member of the press during the Senate hearing on September 5 on the death of teenage student Kian delos Santos.

Aguirre, however, declined to confirm the text messages with Paras.

“They are irrelevant kasi under the Constitution and under [RA] 4200, anything done in violation of my right cannot be admitted in any forum so it’s as if it was not in existence,” he said.

This, Bag-ao said, is laughable. "Deretso kaagad sila sa pag-alma na nabasa ang kanilang palitan. Sila na nga ang nahuli, sila pa ang galit."

Bag-ao stressed that what Hontiveros did was to expose the truth, criticize the administration and ensure that there is no abuse of power.

"Baka nakakalimutan nilang nasa isang demokratikong lipunan tayo," she said.

"Sana naman ang mas binibigyan ng pansin ng DOJ Secretary ay ang hustisya para sa napakaraming mahihirap at kabataang biktima ng extrajudicial killings at hindi 'hustisya' para sa sarili niya," she added. — BM, GMA News