Alvarez yet to answer ethics raps, House leader says

Former Speaker and incumbent Davao del Norte lawmaker Pantaleon Alvarez has yet to answer the ethics complaint filed against him more than a week after the House ethics and privileges panel found the said complaint sufficient in form and content, a House leader said Monday.

“As of last night, we are yet to receive an answer from former Speaker Alvarez,” House ethics and privileges panel chairperson Jill Bongalon of Ako Bicol party-list said in a press conference.

Bongalon then said that the House ethics and privileges committee will resume deliberations on the ethics complaint filed against Alvarez on Thursday, May 16, at 1 p.m.

The complainants from Davao del Norte, led by Rey Uy, are accusing Alvarez of violating the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for public officials, as well as committing disorderly behavior and conduct unbecoming of a public official because of the following reasons:

• libelous remarks against his fellow local officials;
• habitual absences in the House of Representatives proceedings; and
• seditious utterances and statements during a public rally in Davao City, during wherein he called for the withdrawal of support of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police (PNP) from the administration of President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr.

Bongalon earlier said that the House ethics panel’s decision was sent to Alvarez’s office by registered mail as well as through his office's official email and that of his chief of staff last Friday, May 3, the same day that the House ethics panel held deliberations on the complaint.

Under House rules, a lawmaker found guilty of an ethics case may face the following:

• admonition;
• reprimand;
• censure;
• 60 calendar days suspension;
• expulsion; or
• any other penalty that the committee may recommend.

Bongalon, however, clarified that Alvarez’s fate will not only be decided on by the ethics committee.

“The findings of the ethics committee...is just recommendatory. The House [members in] plenary will vote to approve or disapprove the recommendation of the committee, whatever it is," Bongalon added.

Before the filing of the ethics complaint against him, Alvarez has denied making seditious remarks, saying that he was only calling for a peaceful withdrawal of support from the President.

Likewise, Alvarez has said that his call for the secession of Mindanao out of the Philippines is not seditious. —KG, GMA Integrated News