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Friday, February 01, 2008
Senate fails to arrest Neri, Lozada
MANILA -- The Senate failed to arrest Thursday former National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) director now Commission on Higher Education (Ched) chairman Romulo Neri and Philippine Forest Corp. president Rodolfo Noel Lozada Jr.
Senate sergeant-at-arms Jose Balajadia was tasked to implement warrants of arrest against Neri and Lozada.
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The Senate Blue Ribbon committee ordered the arrest of Neri and Lozada for their failure to attend the hearings on the controversial US$329.4 million National Broadband Network (NBN) deal.
The group of Balajadia went to Lozada's and Neri's residence but did not locate them.
In an interview, Balajadia vowed to still pursue the arrest of the two officials.
He said it is the duty of his office to execute the arrest anytime.
"We are tasked to perform our duty. But it is also our duty to treat them as officials and not as prisoners. We make it a point that their constitutional rights are not being violated," he explained.
Balajadia said they are now coordinating with government agencies like the immigration bureau in order to monitor the movements and whereabouts of Neri and Lozada.
Lozada left the country last Wednesday, hours before the Senate resumed the hearing on the NBN deal while Neri invoked executive privilege.
Malacañang deplored the Senate's issuance of warrants of arrest against Neri and Lozada.
"This is clearly not in aid of legislation, but in aid of politics-as-usual," Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye said.
Bunye said many hearings have already been conducted but the public has yet to see the remedial legislation that the Senate intends to propose "at the expense of the privacy, dignity and rights of Cabinet secretaries and government functionaries."
He said hearings on a contract that has long been cancelled, like the NBN deal, even if the witnesses have said all they need to say "distract the nation from its urgent business and disturb the momentum for growth and social reforms."
Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Sergio Antonio Apostol said Neri will file a motion for reconsideration at the Senate, and afterwards the Palace could be open for negotiations on dropping the arrest warrants.
"We would initiate it (talks). We are always open to talks," he said.
Apostol said he was informed that only Senators Allan Peter Cayetano and Rodolfo Biazon wanted Neri and Lozada arrested for snubbing the hearings.
He lamented that the Senate does not respect the executive branch so it really depends upon the senators.
"In the meantime, we would stand on our ground to use the Supreme Court v. Ermita case," he said.
Meanwhile, the Philippine National Police (PNP) said it has sought the legal opinion of the Department of Justice (DOJ) regarding the extent of police authority to implement arrest orders issued by both Houses of Congress in its exercise of contempt powers.
PNP Chief Avelino Razon Jr. had earlier directed the PNP Legal Service to institutionalize a policy that sets the operational procedures in implementing arrest orders issued by the judiciary, and other government institutions mandated with powers to issue arrest orders.
In the case of the "arrest orders" issued recently by the Senate against Neri and Lozada, Razon clarified that the PNP is yet to receive any formal communication for police assistance to effect the arrest the persons concerned.
Chief Superintendent Mario Sandiego, director of the PNP Legal Service, has officially communicated with the DOJ through Chief State Counsel Ricardo Paras seeking legal opinion on the propriety of implementing arrest orders issued by both Houses of Congress in the exercise of contempt powers.
"This matter is being studied in line with a number of arrest orders issued by Congress to persons cited for contempt for failure to attend hearings and sessions, and ordering the PNP to effect the arrest," Sandiego told the DOJ.
He explained that the PNP is "in a predicament where there is no clarity as to the extent of Congress' authority to effect arrest through the PNP, and the extent of the PNP's authority to implement the arrest orders."
On a number of occasions, Sandiego noted, the PNP has been requested by the sergeant-at-arms of the Senate to assist in serving arrest orders to persons cited by the Senate for contempt.
"We believe that police assistance to the Senate sergeant-at-arms in this case is within our law enforcement function. However, we want to be clarified if the PNP is authorized by its mandate to effect arrests of this nature," Sandiego said. (CPB/JMR/VR/Sunnex)
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Cagayan de Oro. (February 1, 2008 issue)
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