Robin Padilla had this challenge to his fellow senators
Senator Robin Padilla defended Vice President Sara Duterte once again and challenged his fellow senators to open their bank accounts.
Padilla is one of the allies of the Vice President, and her father, former President Rodrigo Duterte.
During the ongoing impeachment trial, the actor-politician opposed the Senate impeachment court’s decision to subpoena the bank, tax, and Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) records of VP Sara Duterte and her husband, Atty. Manases “Mans” Carpio, based on the article in Inquirer.
Sen. Robin Padilla argued that if the court is to access private financial records in the interest of transparency, the same standards should apply to all senator-judges and other impeachable officials.
He challenged his fellow senators to open their own bank records to prove the court is completely impartial and not biased against VP Sara.
“Buksan na natin lahat ng bank records natin. Lahat na… Para maipakita sa taumbayan na wala tayong kinikilingan dito,” Padilla said.
With this, the actor-politician used this moment to call for the immediate passage of his proposed Freedom of Information (FOI) bill to institutionalize public accountability.
Meanwhile, Ombudsman Boying Remulla stated that Sen. Robin Padilla has disregarded the directive to submit a counter-affidavit regarding his obstruction of justice charge. This was in line with his alleged role in helping fellow lawmaker Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa evade law enforcement.
The complaint came after an incident on May 14, when authorities from the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) attempted to serve an International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant against Dela Rosa at the Senate premises for alleged crimes against humanity linked to the Duterte administration’s war on drugs.
Following the controversial shooting incident, Dela Rosa left the Senate premises, and he allegedly went out of the building with Padilla.