Marisa Dalrymple Philibert has resigned both as the Speaker of the House of Representatives and Member of Parliament for South Trelawny, with immediate effect.
This, in the wake of mounting pressure from the opposition, civil society groups and the private sector, for her to step down, following an Integrity Commission report which recommended that she be charged in relation to allegations of a false declaration to the commission.
In a statement today, Mrs. Dalrymple Philibert said over the past two days she read the Integrity Commission’s report detailing the circumstances of the omission of a motor vehicle from her statutory declaration and took note of the public sentiments on the issue.
She said nowhere in the entire report, has the integrity commission raised any question or concern about the source of funding of the vehicle which was purchased through a loan from Sagicor bank.
According to the statement, the vehicle was never sold or transferred to anyone in the past 7 years, although there was nothing preventing her from doing so after the 3-year mandatory restriction was lifted.
She maintained that the omission of the vehicle was a genuine oversight on her part.
Mrs. Dalrymple Philibert said there would have been no allegation against her had she included the vehicle in her declaration, therefore, she had no motive to deliberately omit it.
She said since the integrity commission has decided to charge her criminally for an omission, she has considered the damage done to her reputation and decided to tender her resignation both as the speaker of the house of representatives and member of parliament for south Trelawny, with immediate effect.
Mrs. Dalrymple Philibert said what has happened to her, could have happened to any other member of the parliament, public servant, or civil servant.
She said as a woman maintaining a family and as a member of parliament, the speaker of the house of representatives and managing partner of a law firm, the toll that it has taken is immense.
She stated that her decision to resign is entirely voluntary, and not at the request of anyone.
She added that she remains a loyal and committed member and supporter of the Jamaica Labour Party, and more particularly to the Andrew Holness led administration.
Mrs. Dalrymple Philibert said she is looking forward to the trial of the matter in a court of law, rather than a court of public opinion.
