In a statement, Palace spokesperson Salvador Panelo said the US Senate panel’s action is a “brazen attempt to intrude” into the Philippines’ domestic legal processes “given that the subject cases against the detained senator are presently being heard by our local courts”.
“It is an insult to the competence and capacity of our duly constituted authorities as such act makes it appear that this US Senate panel has the monopoly of what is right and just.The Palace official stressed that the US Senate panel is treating the Philippines as an “inferior state unqualified to run its own affairs”.
The amendment was reportedly filed by US Senator Richard Durbin, one of five American lawmakers who earlier called for the dropping of charges against De Lima, a fierce critic of President Rodrigo Duterte.