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Saturday, April 22, 2006
Opposition assures Palace on Congress investigations
The House minority bloc allayed fears of Malacañang that congressional hearings will be used again by critics for political witch-hunting, following the decision of the Supreme Court (SC) to unanimously junk certain provisions of Executive Order (EO) 464.
House Minority Leader Francis Escudero, at the same time, said executive branch officials should not fear any investigation or inquiries conducted either by the House or the Senate “if they would just tell the truth.”
Escudero said government officials should even use co//ngressional investigations to present their sides on various controversies that hound the Arroyo administration.
Meanwhile, Chief Justice Artemio Panganiban said no political pressure came into play in the SC’s decision invalidating several provisions of EO 464.
In a chance interview during the launching of the Judicial and Bar Council’s website at the SC Session Hall, Panganiban said the decision was not a “win-win” attempt to please either Malacañang or the 17 senators who filed the petition against the controversial order.
Speculations
“The decision of the Supreme Court (on EO 464) speaks for itself. What we declared were those provisions in conflict with the Constitution,” Panganiban said, debunking speculations that the court’s ruling was meant as a compromise for both petitioners and respondents.
Opposition congressman Roilo Golez of Paranaque City said Arroyo might be charged for violating the Constitution for implementing EO 464 that prevented cabinet and line agency officials from appearing before congressional hearings.
Golez said the opposition is considering the inclusion of the presidential order in the scheduled re-filing of an impeachment complaint against the President in July when the constitutional time-bar lapses.
But House Majority Leader Prospero Nograles disagreed that the SC’s decision against EO 464 is an impeachable offense.
“It is not subject to impeachment because legally it can be defended both ways. The High Court was asked to interpret a debatable legal question. So there is no deliberate or a culpable attempt to violate the Constitution. Fact is, EO 464
was only partially voided,” Nograles said.
The SC, voting 14 to 0, ruled Thursday against Sections 2(b) and 3, which bars government, military and police officials and personnel from appearing in Congressional hearings without the permission of the President saying such provisions were unconstitutional.
Frustrated
These provisions were struck down because it frustrated Congress’ ability to conduct inquiries in aid of legislation, the court ruled.
However, the SC upheld the authority of the President to stop the appearance of Cabinet officials during the so-called “Question Hour” in Congress.
The SC further said the power to invoke executive privilege—the right of the President to withhold information on matters concerning Presidential conversations, correspondences and discussions in closed-door Cabinet meetings—should be limited to the President or to the Executive Secretary, but not to other Cabinet officials.
Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye said the Arroyo administration is not worried that legislative inquiries would be resurrected after the ruling, since they were eventually able to make a point and the parameters in the conduct of inquiries had been laid out properly.
Public’s right
“From the very start, the purpose of EO 464 was mainly to uphold the honor and dignity of the executive branch and Cabinet members against unwarranted insult and injury inflicted by Congressional inquiries. There was never any intent to curb the public’s right to know,” Bunye said.
Arroyo issued the EO on Sept. 28, 2005 after the Senate placed in contempt National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales for refusing to divulge details on the government’s contract with US lobby firm Venable LLP.
House Deputy Speaker for Mindanao Gerry Salapuddin and Cebu City Rep. Antonio Cuenco, chairman of the House committee on foreign affairs, said the ruling will surely embolden anti-Arroyo legislators now that the SC has struck down parts of the order.
Cuenco called on opposition lawmakers to be more circumspect and not use Congress as a tool for political wrangling with the Palace. (Sunnex)
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (April 22, 2006 issue)
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