Saturday, September 06, 2008 Villar hits ruling on executive privilege
SENATE President Manuel Villar Jr. on Friday criticized the Supreme Court (SC) decision favoring the use of executive privilege to hide the truth to the anomalous US$329 million broadband deal as an “ominous sign of things to come.”
Voting 9-6, the high court upheld last Thursday its March 25 ruling that former economic planning secretary Romulo Neri properly invoked executive privilege in the Senate investigation into the questionable national broadband network (NBN)-ZTE deal.
“This is a dark portent of things to come. With this decision, we now see how cases will be decided in the future. This could be viewed as a prelude of how the issue of Charter change will be decided,” he said.
Villar, president of the Nacionalista Party, said the SC ruling is “a big step backward for our efforts to uphold transparency and accountability in government.”
“I am hopeful that this will not encourage corruption in the bureaucracy, with high officials invoking executive privilege to escape prosecution for wrongdoing,” he said.
The lawmaker said the decision is lamentable as this will weaken the twin principles of transparency and accountability in public service in the long run.
“I pray that this decision will not compromise the performance of Congress of its oversight functions that has proven in history to be the bane of grafters and incompetents in the executive department,” he said.
“Let me assure the people that despite this ruling, the Senate under my leadership will remain vigilant and independent and will continue to exercise its constitutional mandate to provide a system of check and balance in government,” Villar said.
A religious group echoed Villar’s claim as it expressed disappointment over the SC ruling.
Sister Mary John Mananzan, chairperson of the Association of Major Religious Superiors in the Philippines (AMRSP), said it is very disheartening that the administration remains keen on covering up what appears to be a large-scale corruption.
“It is sad that the government keeps on covering up corruption,” Mananzan said.
She added that what is more depressing is the fact that the once rock-hard credibility of the high court has decided to regress.
“It is also sad that the Supreme Court, which, for a time showed some independence, such as in the case of the extrajudicial killings, seems to be towing the line now, too,” she said.
AMRSP was the group that gave protection to Rodolfo Lozada Jr., an NBN whistleblower who linked President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and her husband to anomalous project.
Lozada, who served as Neri’s consultant when the project was still being reviewed by the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda), accused the First Couple of getting kickbacks from the project. (MSN/Sunnex)
