Pia Cayetano calls for NHCP chair’s resignation

MANILA, Philippines – Sen. Pia Cayetano on Monday asked National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP) Chair Maria Serena Diokno to resign if she cannot defend the Rizal Monument against the Torre de Manila case.

“Chair Diokno, resign if you cannot defend the Rizal Monument!” Cayetano said.

Cayetano, Senate committee chair on education, arts and culture, sought Diokno’s resignation claiming she is incapable of performing her job since she cannot undertake legal and moral responsibility to defend national historic sites.

The senator added that while there are many of them willing to defend the Rizal Monument, she finds it strange that Diokno cannot defend the national heritage.

“I find it extremely strange that we now have the National Historical Commission of the Philippines insisting that it cannot defend the Rizal Monument when there are many of us, including the Solicitor General, the defender of the Constitution, who believe that we must and we can protect the Rizal Monument under the Constitution and existing laws,” Cayetano said.

Cayetano stressed that those who are occupying top level positions of the government’s cultural agencies must be willing and able to defend national historic sites such as the Rizal Monument. She added that if the NHCP chair cannot handle it, she must resign instead of hiring somebody to defend the monument for her.

“If the chair of NHCP cannot get on board with this, as she has blatantly displayed, then she must resign instead of hiring private counsel to defend her inability to perform her job,” Cayetano said.