Rules allowing Senate detainees to use gadgets eyed next week — Escudero

The proposed amendment to the rules which seeks to allow detained resource persons in the Senate to use gadgets while in custody is expected to be finalized next week, Senate President Francis "Chiz" Escudero said Friday.

"Ginagawa na namin ngayon and hopefully, by next week malabas na namin ‘yon," Escudero said.

(We are currently drafting it and hopefully we can release it next week.)

According to Escudero, the Office of the Senate President is the one that is authorized to issue memoranda rules and regulations with respect to incarcerated or detained individuals by virtue of the warrant of arrest.

The Senate president explained that the proposed amendment to the rule would still need the approval of his colleagues.

"Of course we would have to get first the opinion of other members of the Senate. The rules were issued without being consulted to any member of the Senate as I recall being in the Senate for 14 years. I think these rules even antedated by being a senator way back in 2007. So we will do the proper and right thing, route this and get the opinion of the other members before we finalize it," he said.

Earlier this week, Escudero shared that he visited Nancy Gamo, the accountant of suspended Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo who is currently detained in the Senate.

Guo, Gamo, and six other individuals were ordered arrested by the Senate for failing to attend its investigation into the raided POGO hub in Bamban.

The Senate president shared that Gamo had told him about being "bored" inside the detention facilities, prompting him to order a review on the rules of using cellular phones while inside the Senate detention.

He explained that individuals who were ordered arrested by the Senate are detained to force them to appear in their investigations and not as a punishment for a crime.

The Senate Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations and Gender Equality is investigating Guo's supposed involvement in the illegal POGO hub that was raided in her own town.

Guo's citizenship is also being questioned due to her inconsistent testimonies about her background and the supposed dubious documents regarding her Filipino citizenship.

But Guo has denied involvement in illegal POGO activities and maintained that she is a Filipino citizen. — RSJ, GMA Integrated News