MANILA, Mar. 22 – Malacañang has denied the claim of Senator Grace Poe that the administration is practicing “selective justice” for not filing charges against their allies.
During the second presidential debate at the University of the Philippines campus in Cebu City on Sunday, Senator Poe told Liberal Party standard-bearer Manuel Roxas II that the administration does not file cases against important members of the Liberal Party (LP), such as Transportation and Communications Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya.
“It is a simple matter of due diligence to look at the case files or the cases filed by the Ombudsman. As (former) Secretary Roxas pointed out, (Presidential Spokesperson) Secretary (Edwin) Lacierda, the President himself has pointed out: Where the evidence goes, the administration will not stop where it leads to. And where the evidence goes, those are where the cases will be filed,” Undersecretary Manuel Luis Quezon III of the Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning Office said during a press briefing at the Palace on Monday.
“Those have included members of the Liberal Party and the ruling coalition, just as it has included those who are considered stalwarts of the opposition and the camps of the various other candidates,” he said.
During the debate, Poe said, “Ang kinakasuhan lang ng [Liberal Party] ay ang mga latak nilang miyembro. Pero ang mga miyembro nila na importante sa kanila, katulad ni Secretary Jun Abaya na pumirma ng maintenance contract ng APT Global, ay nandiyan pa rin, at hindi man lang kinasuhan,” she said.
Roxas replied that the administration is not engaged in selective justice.
“LP, non-LP, lahat ay nakakasuhan, natatanggal sa pwesto. At makikita ninyo yan. ‘Yan ang record, ‘yan ang totoo, hindi po ‘yan kathang isip,” he said. (PND)