Philippine Embassy calls on US to respect domestic laws amid De Lima resolution

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Embassy in Washington called on the US government to respect the country's laws amid the ban on those involved in the detention of Sen. Leila de Lima, which was described as "unlawful" in a provision of the US budget.

US President Donald Trump earlier approved the US 2020 budget that includes a provision barring those involved in the "wrongful imprisonment" of the opposition senator from entering the US.

"All countries have the sovereign prerogative to allow or ban individuals from entering their borders," the Philippine Embassy said in a statement Tuesday.

"We strongly advise the United States to respect our own laws and processes in the same way that we respect theirs," it added.

A provision of the US 2020 budget indicated that:

The Secretary of State shall apply subsection (c) to foreign government officials about whom the Secretary has credible information (sic.) have been involved in the wrongful imprisonment of: [...] Senator Leila de Lima who was arrested in the Philippines in 2017. 

Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra, meanwhile, said the US ban on governemnt officials involved in the imprisonment of De Lima contains issues of "sovereignty and non-interference among co-equal nations."

"[A]s for me, [I] don't give a damn s*** if [I]'m included in the US list. [I}'m not the one who has to answer to my conscience," Guevarra said in a statement.

Guevarra: US Senate resolution is trash

De Lima, meanwhile, chided Guevarra for remarks calling the US Senate resolution to release her "trash" and unlawful.

The detained senator stressed that the US Senate resolution asking for her release does not violate Philippine laws.

"[I]t just so happened that in the case of the US Senate, the call is backed up with serious potential sanctions that will hurt my persecutors, including Guevarra himself. Hence, it has the punch that Guevarra and others in the Duterte officialdom fear,” De Lima said in a statement.

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