Across the globe, parliaments and parliamentarians grapple with how to fulfil their mandate during the COVID-19 pandemic. With millions of people left without representation when they need it most, parliamentarians are more necessary than ever. They are also more imperiled, as evidenced by hundreds of legislators and legislative staff worldwide who have contracted the virus in the course of their service to, and in contact with, the general public.
In some cases, these circumstances have sparked innovation and ingenuity as legislatures move online; pilot electronic voting; and discover new modalities for fulfilling representative, legislative, and oversight responsibilities even amidst an unprecedented global health crisis. These adaptations were born out of necessity and will hopefully contribute to ongoing parliamentary evolution beyond this crisis.
In other cases, the pandemic has both exposed and exacerbated threats to the legislative branch from authoritarian executives.
This week, the Congress of The Philippines for the first time holds a “hybrid session” after “at least 18 employees, 5 of whom are Senators’ staff, tested positive for COVID-19” during a rapid testing session. Of the 24 members of the Senate of The Philippines, one is conspicuously absent from this remote convocation, as she has been from the Senate floor during more than 1,150 days of arbitrary and unlawful detention.
While many currently are isolated across the globe, Senator Leila de Lima’s sequestration predates the pandemic. According to the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention the deprivation of the Senator’s liberty resulted from her personal conviction and public statements regarding extrajudicial killings in The Philippines and “lacks legal basis.”
As Senator De Lima attests in a handwritten letter from her confinement, jurisprudence of the Supreme Court of The Philippines holds that the only barrier to her participation in legislative proceedings is her ability to appear in personum. Nearly a year ago, Senators proposed a resolution to allow Senator De Lima to participate remotely in parliamentary proceedings, which went unanswered. Now that Congress has passed a resolution allowing for remote participation, there is no conscionable basis for her barring. In this context, the move to technologies meant to bring us together has underscored purposeful exclusion.
The Philippines’ government’s response during the novel Coronavirus outbreak allegedly has entailed state-sponsored violence and provided excuse for further repression of opposition and human rights advocates. Yesterday, the government ordered the shutdown of the country’s leading broadcast network, which has previously been targeted for criticism of the administration, when citizens gravely need news during the pandemic.
Senator Leila De Lima’s voice is needed more than ever to defend democracy in The Philippines. Parliamentarians for Global Action (PGA) joins allies worldwide in demanding that she be allowed to participate in legislative proceedings.
