Senator Manny Pacquiao on Monday moved to declare the post of Senator Leila de Lima as chair of the Senate committee on justice and human rights vacant, in a report of ABS-CBNnews.com
This was after Pacquiao's colleague Senator Alan Cayetano delivered a privilege speech slamming De Lima for her 'supposed partial handling' of the committee's probe on the Duterte administration's drug war.
"I move that the chairmanship and members of the committee on justice be declared vacant," said Pacquiao
Senate President Pro Tempore Franklin Drilon on the other hand, opposed Pacquiao's motion, saying the move was not allowed under the Senate rules.
**"You cannot declare as vacant the chairmanship of a committee" Drilon said.**
It can be remembered that Cayetano criticized that the committee was being used to go after the President
"Sen. De Lima is destroying the President, destroying the Senate, damaging the country," said Cayetano.
"When she got here to the Senate and got the committee, she refused to be neutral… Let someone else chair it. In my past speeches, I'm not asking that she will be removed from the Committee on Justice, [but] only from certain hearings where we cannot expect cold neutrality."
De Lima, was also seen leaving the Senate hall during Cayetano's speech, and even admitted that she walked out because she could "no longer stand it"
It can be remembered that De Lima made headlines last week after she presented a surprise witness, Edgar Matobato, who claimed to have worked as a 'former hitman' of long-time Davao City Mayor and now President Rodrigo Duterte.
Duterte's spokesmen and allies have belied Matobato's statements, but Duterte himself has not publicly spoken about all the allegations.
Pacquiao made the move ahead of Matobato's second appearance before De Lima's committee scheduled on Thursday
When asked for her reaction to Cayetano's remarks **that she is destroying Duterte and the country**, this is what De Lima said: *"What is destroying the reputation of this country are the killings! It's not me."*
