Senate Majority Leader Vicente “Tito” Sotto III believed that PNP chief Director General Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa did not violate any Philippine law when he went to Las Vegas with his family on a trip paid for by Senator Manny Pacquiao.
Sotto said he talked to lawyers and a judge, who said that the Philippines does not have jurisdiction over what could be a possible ethics breach on Dela Rosa’s part as he accepted Pacquiao’s offer of an all-expense paid trip. His statement came after the Ombudsman ordered a probe into the propriety of the PNP chief’s trip to watch Pacquiao’s boxing match.
“Judge nga ang pinagtanungan ko e. Ang krimen ginawa sa La Vegas…” Sotto said on Tuesday, November 15.
He added that even he himself usually gets invited to eat out without getting charged for it.
“Kagaya ko madalas akong maimbitahan, ang nagbabayad ng kinakain ko ay yung nag imbita. Ang ibig sabihin ba magprisinta ako na ako na magbayad kasi senador ako baka ma-charge ako? Katulad nun, inimbitahan ni Sen. Pacquiao si Dela Rosa,” Sotto added.
He also insisted that the issue is that the alleged crime was not committed in the Philippines.
“Ganun ang batas. Hindi mo dito sa Pilipinas ginawa yung krimen, hindi ka mananagot dito. Doon ka mananagot sa pinaggawan mo ng krimen, kung krimen yung ginawa mo,” Sotto said.
However, Rappler’s fact checking said that there are Philippine laws that contradict Sotto’s claim. The country indeed has jurisdiction over any case if it involves public officers even if they committed the offense abroad.
Dela Rosa himself admitted during a media interview that Pacquiao paid for his and his family’s Vegas trip.
“Yung ginagastos ko rito, hindi ito government funds. Yung pamasahe namin, roundtrip ticket, yung hotel naming ng aking pamilya, aking asawa at mga anak, may allowance pa ay personal na binibigay yan sa atin ni Senator Pacquaio,” he told ABS-CBN.
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The Ombudsman is now in the process of determining Dela Rosa’s possible liability of violating Republic Act 6713, the code of conduct that must be observed by public officials.
RA 6713 states that “public officials and employees shall not solicit or accept, directly or indirectly, any gift, gratuity, favor, entertainment, loan or anything of monetary value from any person in the course of their official duties or in connection with any operation being regulated by, or any transaction which may be affected by, the functions of their office.”
According to Rappler, the Ombudsman can investigate and prosecute on its own a public officer’s act or omission when such act or omission is suspected to be unjust, illegal, inefficient, or improper. It did not specify that the act or omission should be committed within the Philippines before the Ombudsman can launch an investigation.
On top of the RA 6713, Dela Rosa may also have violated Articles 210 and 211 of the Revised Penal Code (RPC), pertaining to direct and indirect bribery.
Rappler also pointed out Article 2 of the RPC, which says that the code’s enforceability is not only limited within the Philippines.
“Article 2. Application of its provisions. – Except as provided in the treaties and laws of preferential application, the provisions of this Code shall be enforced not only within the Philippine archipelago, including its atmosphere, its interior waters and maritime zone, but also outside of its jurisdiction…”
By accepting Pacquaio’s gift, the PNP chief may have also violated Presidential Decree 46, according to UP College of Law lecturer and lawyer Arno Sarnidad.
PD 46 makes it “punishable for public officials and employees to receive, and for private persons to give, gifts on any occasion, including Christmas.”
It also prohibits public officials from receiving gifts or any other valuable thing when the gift is given because of an official’s position, regardless of whether or not the gift is given for past favors, or if the giver is expecting to receive a favor or better treatment in the future.
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Rappler also noted that their sources at the Office of the Ombudsman noted how Pacquiao declared former Senate committee on justice and human rights chairman Leila de Lima vacant. Dela Rosa appeared in the Senate probe into alleged extrajudicial killings and is also invited to the hearing on the alleged role of the cops in killing Albuera Mayor Rolando Espinosa Sr. According to the sources at the agency, Pacquiao has “an ongoing transaction with Dela Rosa,” given his role as a member on the previously mentioned committee.
Pacquiao also said that he saw nothing wrong with paying for Dela Rosa and his family’s US trip, adding that it is just how Bisayas are.
Dela Rosa, amid Ombudsman probe, said that he has “no regrets” over accepting the all-expense paid Vegas trip from his kumpare Pacquiao because it gave him a chance to spend quality time with his family.
Sources: (newsinfo.inquirer.net, rappler.com, philstar.com, ombudsman.gov.ph, dole.gov.ph)
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