Duterte allies file ethics complaint vs Hontiveros

MANILA, Philippines —  Lawyers allied with detained former president Rodrigo Duterte have filed an ethics complaint against Sen. Risa Hontiveros.

Witness tampering allegations that Hontiveros denied were cited in the complaint filed by lawyers Ferdinand Topacio and Manuelito Luna and former congressman Jacinto Paras.

Former Senate witness Michael Maurillo had claimed he was paid P1 million to testify against accused child rapist Apollo Quiboloy.

Allegations that Hontiveros took into custody without parental consent the child witnesses in the murder of Caloocan teenager Kian delos Santos were also renewed by the lawyers.

Delos Santos is among the many victims of state-sanctioned extrajudicial killings in Duterte’s bloody drug war.

Topacio, Luna and Paras accused Hontiveros of “disorderly behavior” and urged the Senate ethics committee to investigate and punish her with “suspension and expulsion from the Senate.”

The lawyers filed yesterday the ethics complaint at the Senate Secretary’s Office.

At yesterday’s Kapihan sa Senado forum, Hontiveros shrugged off the complaint and said it is the lawyers who have a record of witness tampering.

“We have receipts regarding all witnesses or whistle-blowers who approached my office or our committees in any investigation,” she pointed out.