The House of Representatives will not be a rubber stamp, but if President Duterte needed it, he would be allowed to suspend the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus, Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez said on Monday. He stressed that it was entirely up to Mr. Duterte to make good on his warning on Friday night to suspend the privilege of the writ. Human rights have been a touchy subject for Mr. Duterte, who has vented daily fury at activists and Western governments that have shown concerns about his war on drugs and the high death toll. Mr. Duterte said the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia were working closely to keep foreign extremists at bay. Malacañang on Monday issued a statement saying the President was giving a stern warning to those behind violent acts that he could take “more drastic action” to stop them.

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer November 14, 2016 16:41 UTC