Huwebes, Oktubre 19, 2006

Gordon: Arrest warrants vs PCGG execs still ‘live’ - Malaya 10.19.2006

BY DENNIS GADIL

SEN. Richard Gordon yesterday said the arrest warrants issued against officials of the Presidential Commission on Good Government and executives of Philcomsat Holdings Corp. (PHC) can be enforced anytime if they snub Senate hearings.

"They have to remember that the warrants of arrest are still pending and could be served anytime by the Senate security," Gordon, chair of the committee on government corporations and public enterprises, said.

The Senate committee on government corporations and public enterprises resumes hearings on the PHC fund mess next month with an expanded mandate.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday effectively removed the immunity of PCGG officials from congressional inquiries.
Gordon said the "live" warrants would be used to "gently remind" the PCGG led by its chairman Camilo Sabio and PHC officials that they should attend the next round of hearings.

He said his panel would also expand its inquiry into possible anomalies committed by PCGG officials.

Gordon said 20 years after it was created, the PCGG has yet to report out its accomplishments.

"The Philcomsat will just be the entry point. We will find out if the PCGG has been doing its job. We will expand our investigation and look into the operations of the companies that the PCGG has taken over, where they have made money, where they lost money and where they made money for themselves," Gordon said.

He said the expansion would be in line with a pending measure seeking the abolition of the PCGG.

Sabio and Commissioners Ricardo Abcede, Narciso Nario, Nicasio Conti and Tereso Javier and PHC officers Benito Araneta, Philip Brodett, Manuel Andal, Julio Jalandoni and Luis Lokin Jr. were the targets of warrants of arrest issued by the Senate for snubbing its hearings.

Only the arrest warrant on Sabio was served by Senate security personnel last Sept. 12. Sabio was detained for almost two weeks at the Senate clinic after showing signs of heart problems. His lawyers filed a petition for habeas corpus before the high court.

The PCGG officials invoked Executive Order 1 for defying the summons of the Senate panel, citing a provision that says they could not be compelled to attend judicial and congressional probes.

The tribunal ruled this week that such immunity embodied in EO 1 has been superseded with the ratification of the 1987 Constitution.

Gordon said he would have wanted to immediately resume his panel’s investigation but they do not want to be perceived as over-eager to grill the officials.

He said the SC’s decision was a "severe slap" on the commission.

"I hope this would instill some humility and an expression of cooperation among the PCGG officials," he said. – Dennis Gadil

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