Palace shrugs off De Lima’s list of “persecutors” submitted to US for possible ban inclusion

February 26, 2020

Malacanang shrugged off on Wednesday opposition Senator Leila de Lima's list of her supposed "persecutors" which she submitted to the United States for its possible inclusion in the ban.

In a press briefing, Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said any country has the authority to reject the entry of any foreigner.

"Isn't it we said that any country has the authority, the discretion to ban any foreigner?" he said.

De Lima has forwarded to the US, through the Embassy here, the names of Filipino government officials whom she considered as her persecutors.

This was in connection with the US 2020 Budget Law, which includes a provision that bans Filipino government officials responsible for human rights violations in the Philippines and De Lima's continued detention.

De Lima did not disclose the names of those included in the list, which she said was only recommendatory since the US has the final say.

Asked of President Rodrigo Duterte's possible take on De Lima's list, Panelo said, "isn't it he (Duterte) already made a statement on that? He's not interested. He's not even interested in going there (in the US)."

He added that Duterte declined the invitation of US President Donald Trump to join the other Southeast Asian leaders in a summit in Las Vegas next month. Celerina Monte/DMS