Rep. Rodante Marcoleta of SAGIP party-list group on Thursday lamented the Supreme Court’s issuance of a temporary restraining order againsta contempt and detention order of joint House committees probing the alleged misuse of public funds in Cagayan during the 2022 elections involving Cagayan Gov. Manuel Mamba
During the budget deliberations, Marcoleta asked the Supreme Court if it was disregarding a landmark case or a previous ruling wherein the High Court refused to order the release of a petitioner.
Marcoleta defended the move of the House committees on publicaccounts, and suffrage and electoral reforms to issue a contempt and detention order against Mamba for his repeated failure to attend the
congressional inquiry.
“Ang hinihingi lang namin dito, habang ginagawa po namin ang aming constitutional duty, wala naman po sanang TRO. You could have receivedhis petition without issuing a TRO,” Marcoleta told the House committee on appropriations.
(What we are asking for here is while we are doing our constitutional duty, there should be no TRO. You could have received his petition without issuing a TRO.)
“That’s the whole point, sir,” he added.
Court Administrator Raul Villanueva replied to Marcoleta by saying the High Court upholds the power of inquiry of Congress at all times. Villanueva explained the issuance of a TRO was primarily because “there was a prayer for a TRO in Mamba’s petition” and that the move does not mean that the previous rulings of the Court have been
abandoned.
“This is a preliminary or provisional remedy that is something that the Supreme Court can look into. Likewise, it’s not the final disposition of the case,” Villanueva said.
On August 17, the joint committee adopted a motion to detain Mamba for his failure to attend the congressional hearings in connection with the alleged misuse of public funds in Cagayan during the 2022elections. Antipolo Rep. Romeo Acop made the motion to detain Mamba. But Mamba was later released following the SC TRO.
Congress has the power to cite in contempt resource persons invited to committee meetings if they are deemed uncooperative or evasive during congressional inquiries. Contempt of Congress may be penalized by
indefinite detention at the premises of the House of Representatives.