Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said Wednesday the memorandum enjoining the Cabinet officials and employees of the Executive department from attending the Senate investigation on the purchasing of allegedly overpriced medical supplies was not intended to defy the upper chamber’s authority
Guevarra explained that President Rodrigo Duterte issued the order purportedly to protest the manner by which the Senate Blue Ribbon committee conducted its investigation on the matter.
“From where I stand, I view the memorandum issued by the Office of the President not to defy the constitutional prerogative of the Congress to conduct legislative inquiries. Precisely, that’s the reason why this memo zeroed in on a particular inquiry because the Office of the President does not defy the congressional prerogative to conduct inquiries,” Guevara said, in a text message.
“It is a protest on the manner the Senate Blue Ribbon committee has conducted its hearings, which have taken a lot of valuable time from executive officials who are urgently addressing a public health emergency,” Guevarra added.
President Duterte on Tuesday officially directed members of the Executive branch to refrain from attending the hearing of only the Senate Blue Ribbon committee.
Senator Richard Gordon, chairman of the Senate Blue ribbon committee, denounced the memorandum as “unconstitutional” since there were no issues of “national security, executive privilege, and diplomatic discussions as mentioned in the case of Senate vs. Ermita.”
But Guevarra noted that with weeks of hearings, it should be clear already if there are any laws that need to be amended, enacted, or if there are provisions that need to be repealed.
“But the perspective is the inquiry is quite stepping beyond the original purpose and probably dealing with things like a criminal investigation that may properly be handled by the executive department itself through the Department of Justice or through the Office of the Ombudsman,” he said.
Guevarra offered a possible compromise to prevent a deadlock between the Executive and the Senate over the matter.
“I believe that this issue need not come to a head. Reasonable arrangements could be mutually agreed upon so that both the legislative and executive branches could continue to perform their respective mandates,” he said.
The Philippine Bar Association has also criticized Duterte’s directive, arguing that “it upsets our system of checks and balances” and “transgresses the doctrine of separation fo powers” among the three branches of government.
At the same time, the country’s mandatory lawyers group urged President Duterte to recall his memorandum.
“We thus urge the President to reconsider his decision to bar his Cabinet from attending the Senate investigation on the alleged irregularities in the Department of Health spending related to the COVID-19 pandemic program,” the Integrated Bar of the Philippines said in a statement.
“It is only by granting our Congress free access to information that we can empower them to formulate policies that fully reflect the will of our people,” the IBP added.
The IBP stressed that the Supreme Court in 2006 had ruled that “ultimately, the power of Congress to compel the appearance of executive officials… find their basis in the principle of separation of powers.”
It noted that the SC had also declared that “while the executive branch is a co-equal branch of the legislature, it cannot frustrate the power of Congress to legislate by refusing to comply with its demands for information.”
Meanwhile, the chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability said his panel would be “fair, balanced and legal” in reporting the findings of its inquiry into alleged irregularities in the procurement of medical supplies for the government’s pandemic response.
Rep. Michael Aglipay of DIWA party-list group said the testimonies of former Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corp. regulatory affairs head Krizle Grace Mago on the issue of the government’s procurement of COVID-19 medical supplies would be taken “with a grain of salt.”
“We are not stupid to believe everything she has to say. We have to take it with a grain of salt,” Aglipay told reporters at a virtual news forum.
He also said that his panel would come out with a committee report that would be “fair, balanced and legal—meaning we will take everything legally.”
“‘We are not going to let our emotions get the better of us. We will base our actions on the law because everyone should be accorded due process,” he stressed.
Aglipay said the committee would not rush its findings because it wanted all bases covered as he noted that under the rules, the panel had 60 days “to release the report for review and a vote by its members.of one month so that means by November 4 and maximum of 60 days or by December 4.”