Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez is firm on the stand that the House can still issue arrest warrant to Sen. De Lima.
ALVAREZ – The House of Representatives can still issue a warrant of arrest against Sen. Leila De Lima according to House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez.
Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez expressed that the House has issued a show-cause order to Sen. Leila De Lima to get her explanation on why she should not be charged of contempt based on a previous report.
Sen. De Lima has reportedly advised her former lover, driver and bodyguard not to appear before a congressional inquiry. The said inquiry was conducted to discover the truths behind drug allegations and issues.
A series of text messages between the daughter of Dayan and Sen. De Lima showed that the Senator advised her former lover not to attend the probe. A show-cause order issued to Sen. De Lima then followed it.
Speaker Alvarez recently expressed that he would be forced to issue an arrest warrant against the Senator in case she would not respond to the show-cause order issued by the House.
A recent news report in GMA News Online stated that the House Speaker told Unang Balita that he might be ordering for an arrest warrant against Sen. De Lima if the House Justice Committee would suggest it to him.
It is also stated that he emphasized that he can’t remember that he and the Senators including Sens. Aquilino Pimentel III, Vicente Sotto III, Panfilo Lacson, and Gringo Honasan came up to a deal in a meeting not to issue an arrest warrant against Sen. De Lima.
Based on the report, Ilocos Norte 1st District Rep. Rodolfo Fariñas and Oriental Mindoro 2nd District Rep. Reynaldo Umali were also present in the meeting as to Sen. Sotto.
Speaker Alvarez said, “Aantayin po kung ano ang rekomendasyon ng Committee on Justice… If they request for the issuance of warrant of arrest, baka i-issue natin.”
[I will wait for the recommendation of the Committee of Justice. If they request for the issuance of warrant of arrest, we might issue it.]