section_path: Campaign/April
section_name: April
paragraph_text: April
  
  On his first appearance since the arrest of Rodrigo Duterte, Ronald dela Rosa attended the second hearing of the foreign relations committee. Government officials skipped the meeting, citing executive privilege. In the hearing, Dela Rosa montioned to issue subpoenas to missing cabinet members; Senate President Francis Escudero did not issue subpoenas to the hearing. On the third hearing attended by government officials, Markus Lacanilao, Special Envoy on Transnational Crimes, was cited in contempt of Congress by the committee. Escudero refused to sign the contempt order, releasing Lacanilao from the Senate's custody. Dela Rosa motioned Lacanilao to be cited in contempt, after dela Rosa accused him of lying during the hearing. Escudero issued a statement saying that Marcos "to refrain from using the Senate as a platform for her own personal political objectives". Jesus Crispin Remulla, the justice secretary, said that they did not attend the second hearing as they anticipated that the senators would bully them and pressure them on making admissions.
  
  On April 13, Senator Robin Padilla, also president of Partido Demokratiko Pilipino, endorsed Marcos. A day later, Sara Duterte releases a political advertisement endorsing Imee Marcos, with both women clad in black clothing. The government decried the advertisement, calling it as "fake news", calling the Duterte administration being "black" as the one having best describing the advertisement. A week later, Duterte appeared on another political advertisement endorsing Camille Villar. Later that week, the COMELEC summoned Villar for alleged vote buying in Cavite. Villar denied that the incident was illegal, having occurred on February 9, two days before the campaign period. Despite this, Toby Tiangco, Alyansa's campaign manager, maintained that Villar was still a part of the slate. Villar then skipped a campaign sortie with her fellow Alyansa candidates in Dagupan, saying that she was sick.
  
  A week after Duterte's endorsement of Villar, Bulacan vice governor Alex Castro appealed to the Senate to investigate PrimeWater 's alleged appalling service. PrimeWater is a water management service owned by the Villars. Castro cited issues in San Jose del Monte, where the local government sued the company to terminate their 25-year joint venture agreement that was signed in 2018. Bulacan governor Daniel Fernando, citing instances where communities have no running water for days on weekends, and exorbitant water bills, described it as "very poor" service. On April 30, presidential spokesperson Claire Castro (no relation to the vice governor) said the president will order an investigation on PrimeWater.