‘Lawmaker can’t be arrested while Congress is in session’

MANILA, Philippines – Marinduque Rep. Regina Reyes will not be arrested while Congress is in session.

Under the Constitution, a lawmaker cannot be arrested when Congress is in session unless the offense is serious,   House of Representatives Majority Leader     Neptali Gonzales II said yesterday. 

The arrest warrant from the Quezon City Metropolitan Trial Court was just a bench warrant compelling Reyes to appear in court, he told The STAR.

“We can’t enforce that because Congress is in session,” he said. “Besides, the case can easily be handled by her lawyers.”

Reyes or her lawyer can simply show up in court and address the matter, Gonzales said.

Reyes was ordered arrested when she failed to appear in court after her losing rival in the 2013 congressional race, Lord Allan Velasco, filed a complaint of usurpation of official functions against her.

Velasco is the son of Supreme Court Associate Justice Presbitero Velasco, who  chairs the House of Representatives Electoral Tribunal.

In 2013, a disqualification case was filed against Reyes, who was accused of being a US citizen.

The case was lodged before the HRET and the Commission on Elections.

 Two weeks ago,  the SC ordered the House to unseat Reyes and install Velasco.

Some lawmakers and legal luminaries have warned of a possible constitutional crisis arising from a seeming conflict between to independent and co-equal branches of government.

Mindoro Oriental Rep. Reynaldo Umali reminded those seeking to encroach on the powers of the House that it approved last year a resolution signed by 171 lawmakers backing Reyes.

Council for Philippine Affairs secretary general Pastor Saycon said votes and decisions of party-list representatives at a time when they have forfeited their right to represent their sector have no effect of law and should be stricken off the record of the House.

He was referring to the 4-3 vote of the HRET last December that the SC has jurisdiction over Reyes’ case. One of the votes came from Gabriela Rep. Luzviminda Ilagan, who is considered to be no longer a member of the body since she joined a political party last October to be able to run for councilor in Davao City. – Paolo Romero, Michael Punongbayan