(Eagle News)– House leaders filed on Monday (December 12) an ethics complaint against Senator Leila De Lima for violating the rules of Congress when she advised her former driver-bodyguard, Ronnie Dayan, to skip an inquiry via text message.
House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, Majority Leader Rodolfo Fariñas, and House Committee on Justice chairman and Oriental Mindoro Rep. Reynaldo Umali filed the complaint before the office of Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III, chairman of the Senate Committee on Ethics.
The complaint was filed a day after De Lima left the country to visit the United States where she is set to receive an award, and to Germany where she is set to speak at the Annual Conference on Cultural Diplomacy.
The House leaders said De Lima intruded in the House inquiry when she advised her former driver and lover to snub the House hearing.
“This is a clear case of contempt of the power and authority vested in the House of Representatives,” the complaint said.
Dayan testified before the House justice committee that De Lima advised him to boycott the invitation of the panel to its probe.
“As an incumbent Senator, former Secretary of Justice and a lawyer, advising and inducing Mr. Dayan to hide and not to attend and/or appear in the House inquiry for which she was duly summoned, is tantamount to restraining or inducing disobedience to a summon issued by Congress, of which she is a sitting member, in violation of Article 150 of the Revised Penal Code,” the complaint said.
When De Lima told Dayan via text to hide and to snub the House inquiry, she in effect “clearly interfered in a congressional inquiry conducted by the House committee on justice,” the complaint said.
De Lima also committed an “unparliamentary act” when she called the committee a “kangaroo court,” the lawmakers said.
The complainants also said that De Lima violated Section 11 of the Rules of Procedure Governing Inquiries in Aid of Legislation of the House of Representatives, which states that the committee may punish any person for contempt.
Senator Panfilo Lacson, a member of the ethics panel, believes the panel has jurisdiction over the complaint filed by Congress.
“I can see now there is jurisdiction. The offense was allegedly committed while Senator Leila de Lima, incumbent na siya. (She) induced or advised Ronnie Dayan not to attend. Clearly may jurisdiction,” Lacson said.
Lacson also said the senators would also discuss what penalty to mete on De Lima, if ever she would be found to have violated Senate rules.
Tingin ko pag-uusapan na lang penalty based on the evidence so far naipresent kasi inamin naman nya na binigay nya advice. Sabi nya advice lang pero nasa law na di lang naman coerced kundi induced,” Lacson said.
Under Senate rules, the chamber may censure, suspend, or expel a member with a two-thirds vote of all senators.
Both Dayan and De Lima admitted that they were in a romantic relationship.
Dayan said they were together for seven years.
