Pres. Rodrigo Duterte's right hand Senator Lawrence “Bong” Go is out to counter US senators' move to prohibit entry of any Philippine officials in their country that had a hand in Senator Leila De Lima's detention.
Go, on Saturday, said he will ask the president to block entry of the few American senators who were behind the seemingly politically-motivated amendment in the US law.
The senator, who is Pres. Duterte's most-trusted ally, argued that what US Senators Patrick Leahy and Richard Durbin did was a clear indication of “interference to the internal affairs” of the country.
In his speech during the 118th anniversary of the Balangiga encounter held Saturday, September 28, he said: “I condemn this act of a handful of U.S. senators for seeking to ban officials of the Philippine government involved in the detention of Sen. Leila de Lima. This is an affront to our sovereignty and to our ability to govern ourselves,” said Go.
“I will suggest to President Duterte to also ban these senators [from] our country for interfering [in] our internal affairs,” he added.
Go explained that De Lima's detention was ordered by a “lawful order by an independent court,” whose decision was affirmed by the Supreme Court.
