Sotto: President Duterte Can’t Bar Lao, Yang From Attending Senate Probe

President Duterte can’t bar Lao and Yang from attending Senate probe, according to Senate President Sotto.

On Wednesday, Senate President Vicente Sotto III said that President Rodrigo Duterte can’t bar private individuals, including Christopher Lao and Michael Yang, from attending the Senate Blue Ribbon’s hearing.

President Duterte can't bar Lao and Yang from attending Senate probe, according to Senate President Sotto.
Photo source: Manila Bulletin

Sotto noted in an interview on ABS-CBN’s Teleradyo that President Duterte can only bar Cabinet officials from attending the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee’s investigation on the alleged anomalies in the national government’s procurement of pandemic supplies and not his former appointees.

Also, he said that Michael Yang was no longer part of the Cabinet as well as Christopher Lao. According to him, Lao was no longer part of the government since he already resigned from his post.

Ang maganda lang dito sa nangyayaring ngayon, hindi naman pwedeng pigilan ng executive department ‘yong mga hindi government officials. Ang pwede lang pigilan ‘yong mga Cabinet officials. Si Michael Yang hindi naman Gabinete ‘yon…si Linconn Ong, at saka itong si Christopher Lao. Hindi na siya gobyerno, nag-resign siya eh,” Sotto said.

Yang was President Duterte’s former presidential economic adviser, while Lao was a former undersecretary who led the Procurement Service of the Department of Budget and Management (PS-DBM).

Sotto added that it’s within the powers of the Senate to issue an arrest warrant against them.

READ ALSO: President Duterte To Personally Approve Or Reject Cabinet Members’ Invites To Senate Probes

He reminded anew the executive department of the separation of powers between the branches of government, and that the Senate has the oversight authority over the use of public funds.

Moreover, Sotto said that the executive department can opt to “block or unblock” the Senate’s legislative inquiry on the matter.

Pwedeng ma-unblock para tuluyang nang makita kung anong nangyari sa pera ng taumbayan. Yon naman ang target ng Senado,” he said.

President Duterte had been criticizing senators for looking into the reported deficiencies of the Department of Health (DOH) in spending its funds for pandemic response, as flagged by the Commission on Audit (COA).

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