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By Efren L. Danao Senior
Reporter
Confrontation between Malacañang
and the Senate will likely continue as the Senate rejected in a caucus on Wednesday evening a compromise formula
offered by Supreme Court Chief Justice Reynato Puno.
On Tuesday, Puno had suggested it
to break the impasse between the executive and the legislative on
the appearance of Malacañang officials in congressional inquiries.
Senate President Manuel Villar
Jr. said the senators did not agree to the compromise that they
believe would clip the inherent powers of the Senate.
“We are all standing by the
institution. This is about the Senate as an institution and we will
not compromise our powers,” he explained after the caucus.
Villar said the senators believe
that the Supreme Court should rather decide on the case filed by
Chairman Romulo Neri of the Commission on Higher Education
questioning the Senate’s authority to order his arrest even when
he had already invoked executive privilege.
The compromise formula offered by
the High Tribunal said Neri could appear before the Senate inquiry
on the aborted national broadband project but must not be asked the
three questions that are the subject of Neri’s petition.
The three questions are:
1. Did the President have any
interest in the National Broadband Network project?
2. Did the President order Neri
to prioritize the broadband project? and
3. Did the President order the
continuance of the project despite Neri’s allegations of bribery?
Neri had refused to answer these
questions asked during the inquiry, saying they intruded into his
conversation with President Gloria Arroyo which he argued
constituted executive privilege.
The Supreme Court asked the
senators to write down sets of questions that they wanted to ask
Neri other than the three questions, and submit these questions to
the Tribunal. It said the senators could cite Neri in contempt if he
refused to answer these other questions but that it could not order
his arrest or detention.
The senators rejected these
conditions as impinging on the Constitutional powers of the Senate.
When asked if this rejection
meant that the Senate would continue confronting Malacañang on the
invoking of executive privilege, Villar said it would and they are
ready to do so whenever this is improperly invoked.
Sen. Manuel Roxas 2nd said he was
disappointed with the rejection of the compromise formula, which he
had supported.
“I am sad that there are
senators who are more after having Secretary Neri arrested than to
have him testify,” he added.
Roxas said this rebuff meant that
the Senate could no longer get Neri to testify on the broadband
project. In his only testimony before the Senate blue-ribbon
committee, Neri said he was offered a P200-million bribe by former
Chairman Benjamin Abalos Sr. of the Commission on Elections, and
that he reported this attempted bribery to President Arroyo. Abalos
denied the charge.
Roxas said what is important to
him is to hear the truth from Neri, not his arrest.
Villar, however, stressed that
Neri is not the central issue in the controversy but the power of
the Senate to summon witnesses.
“Neri is merely secondary
here,” he said. “This is about the powers of the Senate as an
institution.”
Villar announced that he will
form a panel of senators today to inform the Supreme Court that the
Senate does not agree to any compromise and that the High Tribunal
should continue hearing the case until it reaches a decision.
Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile said it is
meaningless for the Senate to cite Neri in contempt and then be
unable to detain him.
Senate Majority Leader Francis
Pangilinan said he is unsure if they could decide on the issue. The
compromise proposal suggested that Neri attend the Senate inquiry
while the issue on the three questions is still pending and that the
Senate could cite him in contempt if he invoked executive privilege
but it could not detain him.
Senate Minority Leader Aquilino
Pimentel Jr. said the Senate must not back off from the
confrontation with Malacañang and that Neri should not be allowed
to “frivolously” invoke executive privilege.
He warned that any executive
official would go the Supreme Court later for relief every time
there is a stalemate between Malacañang and the Senate. Pimentel
urged the High Tribunal to decide on the issue raised rather than
offer a compromise.
“A compromise will perpetuate
issues raised unless the Supreme Court interprets the constitutional
provision decisively,” he said.
Sen. Richard Gordon said the
Senate would be crippled if it failed to force the attendance of
witnesses and resource persons in its inquiries. He added that the
Senate rules should be amended to prevent witnesses from giving
false testimonies.
After a 10-hour hearing on
Tuesday, the Supreme Court offered the compromise formula to the
Senate contingent led by Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano, chairman of the
blue-ribbon committee.
Cayetano said he could not commit
the whole Senate to the offered compromise as they have rules to
follow.
“We cannot concede anything
that will lessen the power of the Senate or would change our
rules,” he told reporters.
Cayetano explained that under
Senate rules, any senator can make a determination if the issue
being asked is covered by executive privilege or not.
“If our determination is it is
not covered, we can order [Neri] to answer,” he said. “And if he
doesn’t answer, we can detain him until he answers.”
Cayetano added, “If it’s an
agreement, it should be an agreement among all senators.”
Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez
said the compromise formula was a victory of sorts not only for Neri
but for the executive branch.
He added that until the Senate
accepts the offer, executive privilege is upheld.
--With William B. Depasupil
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