MANILA, Philippines — Something serious happened in the Senate this week. A man named Markus Lacanilao, who is a special helper from the government to stop big international crimes, got into trouble.
He was called to a Senate meeting to answer important questions about a big topic — whether former President Rodrigo Duterte could be arrested by the International Criminal Court (ICC).
But during the meeting on April 10, Mr. Lacanilao didn’t give clear answers. He kept saying things that didn’t really explain what he knew. This made the senators feel like he wasn’t being honest or helpful.
Because of that, Senate President Francis Escudero got upset. He told Mr. Lacanilao to explain himself and gave him a letter called a “show cause order.” That letter said:
“Tell us why we shouldn’t punish you for not answering properly.”
Mr. Lacanilao wrote back on April 15. He said he didn’t really know much about the situation and couldn’t answer the questions clearly.
After reading Mr. Lacanilao’s explanation, the Senate President decided it wasn’t good enough. So, on April 21, Mr. Lacanilao was officially told he would be kept in the Senate’s custody — which means they would keep him at the Senate for up to 2 days. This is a way of saying, “You need to take this seriously.”
Mr. Lacanilao didn’t fight the decision. He came to the Senate on his own to follow the rules. The Senate also made sure he was healthy by having their doctors check on him.
Senator Escudero said Mr. Lacanilao must come to any future hearings and answer truthfully. If he doesn’t, he could get into more trouble.
