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Thursday, February 28, 2008
Palace mulls revoking EO 464
MANILA -- Malacañang is studying the possibility of canceling Executive Order (EO) 464, which the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) considers as hindering the search for truth on the national broadband network (NBN)-ZTE deal and other controversies.
The CBCP, in a pastoral letter last Tuesday, called for the abolition of EO 464 as part of the campaign against corruption.
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Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said that upon President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's orders, he has created a legal team that would look into the recommendation of the CBCP. The legal team started meeting at 4 p.m. Wednesday.
"We hope to be able to submit the position of the team to the President by tomorrow morning (Thursday) so that by tomorrow afternoon we should have some very definite recommendation to the President. You can be sure this will be presented to the President very well because it's so important a matter coming from the CBCP. We would wish that the President would be properly guided with a recommendation," Ermita said.
He said the legal team is composed of Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez Sr., Solicitor General Agnes Devanadera, Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Sergio Antonio Apostol, Deputy Executive Secretary for Legal Matters Manuel Gaite, and Government Corporate Counsel Alberto Agra.
The things that the legal team would have to discuss, said Ermita, include the petition of acting Commission on Higher Education (Ched) chairman Romulo Neri before the Supreme Court (SC), which seeks to prevent him from appearing in the Senate, which is up for oral argument on March 3.
But Gonzalez said, Malacañang cannot just scrap EO 464 because there exist laws and jurisprudence that must seriously be considered before coming up with a decision.
"The CBCP should understand that there are parameters to be considered," he said, noting that there are information that would require confidentiality, such as trade secrets and matters of national security.
Gonzalez said disclosure of state secrets by a public officer was also punishable under the Revised Penal Code, referring to Article 229.
Article 229 provides that "any public officer who shall reveal any secret known to him by reason of his official capacity, or shall wrongfully deliver papers or copies of papers of which he may have charge and which should not be published, shall suffer the penalties of prision correccional in its medium and maximum periods, perpetual special disqualification, and a fine not exceeding P2,000 if the revelation of such secrets or the delivery of such papers shall have caused serious damage to the public interest; otherwise, the penalties of prision correccional in its minimum period, temporary special disqualification and a fine not exceeding 50 pesos shall be imposed."
For Rodolfo Lozada Jr., the key witness in the Senate hearing on the questionable NBN deal, the abolition of EO 464 may finally lead the Palace to allow Neri to further reveal details of alleged bribery and overpricing of the scandal-ridden broadband contract.
During Wednesday's forum of the Makati Rotary Club, Lozada said although the CBCP was not able to meet the people's expectation over calls for President Arroyo to resign, he still supports the bishops' recommendation for the abolition of EO 464.
"I believe Secretary Neri is only waiting for the Supreme Court ruling over his appeal to invoke executive privilege. But with the repeal of EO 464, he can now speak about the truth he is carrying for a long time already," Lozada said.
Neri was then the director-general of the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) at the time the NBN-ZTE deal was approved. He once appeared in the Senate hearing to speak of the P200-million bribe that was offered to him by resigned Commission on Elections (Comelec) chairman Benjamin Abalos, Sr.
But when asked to divulge the conversations he had with the President regarding the bribery attempt, Neri invoked executive privilege to offset further inquiry. In questioning the authority of the Senate, Neri appealed before the SC to justify his invocation. (JMR/ECV/Sunnex)
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Dumaguete. (February 28, 2008 issue)
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