LAWMAKERS on Tuesday slammed Foreign Affairs Secretary Perfecto Yasay Jr. for lying under oath about his citizenship and suggested he may even be prosecuted for perjury over several instances in his career when he claimed to be a Filipino but wasn’t.
Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman said he believes Yasay should not just be bypassed but rejected by the appointment body.
“His appointment should not just be bypassed. It must be rejected. The question is, “Is Yasay an American citizen, a Filipino citizen, or stateless?” Apart from that, it must be noted that he is a liar,” Lagman said.
Senator Panfilo Lacson, chairman of the CA’s foreign affairs committee, earlier warned that Yasay could be liable for perjury if proven that he lied before the CA.
The CA earlier found that Yasay was granted United States citizenship on Nov. 26, 1986 and renounced it only on June 28, 2016.
Lacson said Yasay’s possible rejection as foreign secretary should be the least of his concerns because there are serious questions about perjury in several instances in Yasay’s actions over the past 30 years.
He noted that Yasay served as associate commissioner of the Securities and Exchange Commission in 1993 for which he should have signed an oath of office. Two years later, he should also have signed another oath of office as SEC chairman.
“If there is perjury, there is a criminal offense. So he shouldn’t worry too much if he isn’t confirmed. His bigger problem is the case he will possibly face,” Lacson said.
The Revised Penal Code penalizes any person “who, knowingly making untruthful statements…shall testify under oath, or make an affidavit, upon any material matter before a competent person authorized to administer an oath in cases in which the law so requires.”
The penalty for perjury is imprisonment of up to two years.