Senate’s Investigative Power in Danger of Being Undermined due to Arroyo Gag Order — Pimentel

Minority Leader Aquilino “Nene” Q. Pimentel, Jr. (PDP-Laban) today expressed concern that the Senate will find its credibility being eroded if Cabinet members and other officials of the executive branch will continue to defy its summons to testify in its investigations without being sanctioned by the chamber.

Pimentel warned that the system of check and balance between the legislative and executive branches of government will be undermined unless the Senate will assert its power to impose sanctions on the Cabinet members and lower public officials for not appearing in legislative inquiries into the controversies and wrongdoing involving personalities of the administration.

The Senate, the opposition leader said, will have no choice but to cite the “no-show” Cabinet members and other officials for contempt and order their arrest.

Pimentel said the Upper Chamber should exercise its contempt power even as it awaits the decision of the Supreme Court on the petition questioning the constitutionality of Malacañang’s practice of prohibiting executive officials from appearing in congressional hearings on scandals and anomalies in the Arroyo administration by invoking executive privilege.

“We have tried to be circumspect in invoking our
contempt power against public officials who have shown
disrespect to the Senate because we want to avoid
confrontation with the executive branch. But the
prevailing circumstances leave us no choice but to use
this power otherwise we will be remiss in our duty to
uphold and protect the authority and integrity of the
Senate,” he said.

The minority leader lamented that the Senate probe
into the controversy over the national broadband
project has virtually grounded to a standstill because
of the “gag order” imposed by the Palace on Commission
on Higher Education Chairman Romulo Neri, former
director general of the National Economic Development
Authority (NEDA), whom the Blue Ribbon and trade and
commerce committees wanted to grill further on
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s role in awarding
the project to China’s ZTE Corporation.

Likewise, acting NEDA director general Augusto Santos
has been prevented by the Palace from furnishing to
the Senate the transcripts and minutes of the NEDA
board meeting when the NBN-ZTE deal was discussed.

In both instances, the Palace invoked the right of the
President to executive privilege supposedly to prevent
the unnecessary disclosure of information that may
hurt public interest and national security.

“In view of these circumstances, I believe that the
Senate should now decide on pending motions to cite
the administration officials concerned for contempt.
We should show them that we will not tolerate further
their attempt to belittle or play around with the
authority of the Senate,” Pimentel said.

“We cannot allow a situation wherein the Senate finds
itself helpless in looking for information and for
uncovering the truth regarding official transactions
of government.”

The senator from Mindanao also noted that although
former military intelligence agent Vidal Doble has
already completed his testimony on the “Hello Garci”
scandal, the Senate probe is still hanging because of
refusal of certain Cabinet members and officials of
the military, including those from the Intelligence
Services of Armed Forces of the Philippines (ISAFP) to
testify due to lack of clearance from Malacañang.

The Supreme Court has yet to rule on a pending
petition asking the tribunal to stop the Senate from
pursuing the inquiry into the wiretapping scandal,
including the replaying of the tapes of the phone
conversations between President Arroyo and former
Elections Commissioner Virgilio Garcillano in
connection with the 2004 Presidential Election.

The Senate including the Minority Senators led by
Pimentel have sought the dismissal of the petition
filed by two retired Court of Appeals Justices
Santiago Ranada and Oswaldo Agcaoili.
-o0o-

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