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The Supreme Court, not the Senate, will still have
the last word on the matter of Romulo Neri.
That is, until the High Tribunal
resolves a petition of Neri on his right, or lack of it, to invoke
executive privilege in snubbing a Senate inquiry into an allegedly
graft-tainted telecommunications project.
Despite rejecting a so-called
compromise solution proposed by the Supreme Court to Neri’s
appearance at the investigation, the Senate can neither compel nor
order the arrest of Neri to attend the probe of the scuttled
$330-million national broadband deal.
“The status quo ante order is
still in effect, so if Neri does not feel like attending a Senate
hearing, he can skip it without fear of arrest. Until we lift that
order, you can call Neri a free person,” the High Tribunal’s
spokesman, Jose Midas Marquez, said Thursday. That order covered all
events relevant to the Neri case just before the Senate issued a
warrant for his arrest for failing to attend hearings on the
broadband deal.
“There will likely be no Senate
hearing involving the former NEDA chairman [unless he voluntarily
goes to the Senate],” Marquez added. NEDA is the National Economic
and Development Authority, of which Neri was the director general
when the broadband deal with China’s ZTE Corp. was negotiated in
2007.
With the Senate’s rejection of
the Chief Justice Reynato Puno’s proposal, the Supreme Court
through a resolution gave all parties—lawyers of Neri and the
Senate—to submit their respective memoranda within 10 days. It
will then be able to likely resolve Neri’s case in 30 to 45 days,
Marquez said.
Palace puzzled
Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye
also on Thursday said he “wonders” why the proposal of the
Supreme Court was rebuffed when it “appears to be very sound and
constructive.”
Apparently wishing that the
senators will reconsider, he added, “In this case, it takes three
to tango, and we need the other party to affirm and have [its]
consent on the proposal. The ball is in [the senators’] court.”
Bunye, though, conceded that
Malacañang will have to wait for the senators to change their mind.
For now, they have no choice but
to wait for the High Tribunal’s decision on whether three
questions the senators wanted Neri to answer are covered by
executive privilege.
Marquez said the Senate’s next
move of compelling Neri to attend the hearing or order his arrest
will not happen because the status quo ante order that had prevented
the Senate from enforcing its arrest order against Neri was only
deferred.
After the decision will have been
made, he said, the order might be lifted and the Senate might be
able to push through with its planned move.
For now, Marquez added, the
Supreme Court will continue to evaluate the arguments of Neri’s
lawyers and the Senate on Neri’s petition for his right to invoke
executive privilege.
“We will just base our decision
on the evidence presented before us,” he said. He added that the
compromise solution had become pointless when the Senate turned it
down. Marquez said they respect the senators’ decision.
Senate stand
On Thursday, Senate President
Manuel Villar Jr. said they will stand their ground.
“As long as there is no
decision, we will continue to invite or subpoena executive officials
and we will continue to cite them in contempt on the spot if they
refuse to appear or if they do not answer properly,” Villar told a
press briefing.
Sen. Richard Gordon agreed,
saying the Senate will continue to reject any move that threatens to
intrude into its inherent rights and privileges.
Villar met with Puno on Thursday
morning to relay the Senate’s rejection of his compromise
solution.
“I told Chief Justice Puno that
our decision was not an act of disrespect for the Supreme Court. We
appreciate the effort, but we believe that our decision was in
accordance with the Constitution. And it is best that the Supreme
Court decide on the merits of the case,” he said.
Sen. Manuel “Mar” Roxas 2nd
called on his colleagues in the Senate to reconsider.
“Let us not summarily reject a
legitimate compromise with the High Court that would ultimately cast
light on the intricate issue of executive privilege, especially as
it impinges upon the commission of a crime, covering up a crime, or
the imperatives of national security and high diplomacy,” he said.
Villar and Sen. Francis Escudero
rejected Roxas’ appeal for a reassessment.
“I appeal to Mar to understand
the importance of upholding the power of the Senate. We should look
beyond Secretary Neri. This is not about him; this is not about ZTE
Corp., this is about the Senate,” Villar said.
Escudero disagreed that the
Senate choice was limited to asserting its powers and searching for
the truth behind the deal.
“What is our assurance that
Neri will tell the truth when he comes here? Lozada said his friend
Neri had already gone to the other side,” he said, referring to
Rodolfo “Jun” Lozada Jr., who told the Senate that he had
witnessed brokering for multimillion bribes from the broadband deal.
He alleged that the brokers were the President’s husband, Jose
Miguel Arroyo, and resigned poll chief Benjamin Abalos Sr. Both
denied the allegation.
Critics had expected that the
resolution of the case would be helped by President Arroyo’s
lifting on Wednesday of Executive Order 464, which bars executive
officials from testifying before congressional inquiries without her
permission. They had charged that Neri was using this order as a
shield against the senators’ insistence that he attend hearings on
the broadband deal.
--William B. Depasupil, Efren L. Danao, Angelo S. Samonte And
Anthony Vargas
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