‘Will SC let Arroyo Court image stick?'

BY EVANGELINE DE VERA

SENATORS yesterday asked the Supreme Court to reconsider its ruling on the issue of executive privilege, saying the decision only made the Executive branch less transparent and weakens government accountability.

In a 103-page motion for reconsideration, the respondent Senate committees on accountability of public officers and investigations (Blue Ribbon), on trade and commerce, and on national defense and security said the assailed March 25 decision has far-reaching emasculating results on other legitimate inquiries on executive agreements or contracts involving public funds.

The committees urged the Court to schedule another oral argument and require former Planning Secretary Romulo Neri to be present.

The high court will tackle the Senate MR in an en banc session on April 15 in Baguio City.

The senators along with NBN-ZTE star witness Rodolfo "Jun" Lozada and some nuns filed the MR by staging a "Walk for Truth" towards the Supreme Court.

The MR said there is a serious public perception that there is a "pattern of concealment" by executive officials in many legislative investigations, while the dangers of abuse of executive privilege by the executive branch have significantly increased.

They added that the perpetuation of the Neri ruling will cause the lingering impression that the SC has lost its independence.

"And with all due respect to incumbent Honorable Chief Justice Reynato Puno who wrote a highly enlightening, if not perfect, dissenting opinion, the question may be truly asked: Will this Court be known essentially as the ‘Arroyo Supreme Court where majority of the justices are swayed by the various propaganda for the President?’ Harsh as they may sound, the perception is very serious," they said.

The senators added that the Neri decision "seriously strikes a debilitating blow" to the mechanism of checks and balances among the three departments of government which is designed to ensure the continued survival of a living and growing republican state.

If not corrected, the Neri decision could "effectively turn executive privilege into a refuge for scoundrels," the senators warned.

"When secrecy is invoked amid accusations of corruption, it is nothing but a tool for a criminal cover-up. If allowed to become final, it (decision) could result in a democracy of kept secrets buttressed by the Neri jurisprudence," they said.

The senators also lashed at the justices who joined the majority decision, saying they turned a blind eye to facts which are on record and disregarded settled jurisprudence, and took Neri’s representations at face value and adopted his position "hook, line and sinker."

The senators insisted they did not commit grave abuse of discretion in citing Neri for contempt and issuing a warrant for his arrest, and said these were issued in accordance with the Senate’s internal rules, which they said were duly published, contrary to the SC ruling.

The senators also argued that by answering three questions, Neri will not impair the country’s economic and diplomatic relations with China as ZTE is a private corporation.

The three questions are: Did the President follow up the NBN-ZTE project with Neri; was he told by the President to prioritize the NBN-ZTE project; and, did the President tell him to go ahead with the project after learning of the bribe offer from then Elections chair Benjamin Abalos Sr.?

In its ruling, the Court ruled that the three questions were covered by executive privilege as it dealt with delicate and sensitive national security and diplomatic matters and when divulged could cause possible loss of confidence of foreign investors and lenders.

The majority decision was penned by Associate Justice Teresita Leonardo de Castro. Associate Justices Leonardo Quisumbing, Renato Corona, Dante Tinga, Minita Chico-Nazario, Presbitero Velasco, Antonio Eduardo Nachura, Ruben Reyes and Arturo Brion concurred.

Chief Justice Reynato Puno and Associate Justices Consuelo Ynares-Santiago, Ma. Alicia Austria-Martinez, Conchita Carpio-Morales, Adolfo Azcuna and Antonio Carpio dissented.

Sen. Mar Roxas backtracked on his non-support for the motion for reconsideration, saying "it is the best means to clarify the true intent of the high tribunal in ruling in favor of the President in the Neri case."

Roxas nevertheless said it would have been different if the Senate had accepted the compromise offer of the Supreme Court, which would allow Neri to testify on the NBN-ZTE contract as long as senators avoided questions about his privileged communication with the President.

"The effect of the ruling will undoubtedly reveal itself as the Senate initiates hearings on other alleged anomalies such as the so-called "swine scam" and South Rail project," he said. – With Dennis Gadil