ILIGAN City ― A lawyer is calling a senator’s recent comments “outrageous” after the lawmaker suggested bending the law for the public’s welfare.
Lawyer Manny Salibay, former head of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines’ Iligan City and Lanao del Norte chapter, criticized Sen. Erwin Tulfo’s statement during a Senate Blue Ribbon Committee hearing this week.
During the hearing, led by committee chairman Sen. Panfilo Lacson, Tulfo said, “sometimes you have to bend the law for the welfare of the people.”
This came after Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla stated that a couple, Pacifico and Sarah Discaya, must first return illegally obtained assets to the government before being admitted into the Witness Protection Program.
Salibay agreed with former Blue Ribbon Committee chairman, Sen. Rodante Marcoleta, who previously noted that the law does not require restitution for witness protection.
Salibay also raised suspicions that the actions of the current Senate majority might be to protect the presidency of Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
The hearing was part of a Senate investigation into alleged anomalous flood control projects.
Marcoleta’s questioning on the matter was disregarded by Lacson, who called on former Bulacan District Engineer Henry Alcantara to continue his testimony, effectively cutting off Marcoleta’s line of inquiry.
Salibay previously ran for congressman of the city’s lone district, with some campaign materials showing his hand being raised by former President Rodrigo Duterte.
