Says House Leader Gonzales: Congress will punish lawmaker Singson over HK drug case

MANILA, Philippines—The House of Representatives will punish Ilocos Sur Representative Ronald Singson whether he pleads guilty to drug trafficking or to a lesser offense of drug possession, a leader of the chamber said Tuesday.

“Under the Constitution, disorderly behavior by a member of Congress is a ground for either suspension or expulsion, and in the case of Congressman Singson, if he pleads guilty to either trafficking or drug possession, it is still disorderly behavior and we will act accordingly,” Majority Leader Neptali Gonzales II said in a phone interview.

In a Radyo Inquirer interview Tuesday, Ilocos Sur Governor Luis “Chavit” Singson, the lawmaker’s father, said that his son might plead guilty to the lesser offense of drug possession although elder Singson maintained that the lawmaker was innocent.

Gonzales said that the guilty plea to drug possession might be a way to reduce Singson’s sentence and pave the way for his eventual deportation to the country, but this would not absolve him from undergoing proceedings by the ethics committee for disorderly behavior.

The 1987 Constitution empowers the Senate and the House to each “determine the rules of its proceedings, punish its members for disorderly behavior, and with the concurrence of two-thirds of all its members, suspend or expel a member. A penalty of suspension, when imposed, shall not exceed 60 days.”

The House itself considers disorderly behavior to be any of the following: a violation of a law; a violation of any rule or regulation of the House relating to the conduct of any individual in the performance of his or her duty as a member of the House; or improper conduct engaged in by a member that may reflect upon the House from the moment he or she takes his or her oath.

Singson, 42, was arrested at the Hong Kong airport last July after he was found to be allegedly carrying 26 grams of cocaine in his luggage. He is out on bail but cannot leave the Chinese territory.

Singson’s trial in Hong Kong will resume on January 26.

Gonzales said the action of the chamber on Singson’s case would depend on the outcome of the hearing, and if he would plead guilty or not.

“It’s better if this case will be decided immediately because the longer the case drags, the House as an institution will be the loser in the eyes of the public,” he said. (report from Lira Dalangin-Fernandez, Inquirer.net)