Let’s start with Neri and executive privilege: A timeline courtesy of the PCIJ.
My column today is A color of constitutionality The Inquirer editorial today is In aid of transparency, My column was less enthusiastic than today’s editorial about the compromise offered by the Chief Justice: Fr. Joaquin Bernas, S.J. who, by all accounts, was coaching the legal team arguing the Senate case, wasn’t pleased, either, but tried to make the best of it in A case of delicate balancing -but all have been overtaken by events.
The problem is of course, something that came as a surprise yesterday evening: Senate rejects SC compromise on Neri.
(see also, Senate rejects compromise: Conditions set by SC seen as crippling legislature) I’ve been mulling over the reasons why the Senate decided to harden its position and rebuff the Supreme Court. I think the Senators decided they are operating from a position of strength, legally and politically speaking.
By all accounts, going into yesterday’s oral arguments, the Supreme Court was split, 7-7, on Neri’s petition. The effect of such a vote, if it had taken place, would have been to deny Neri his petition. However, revealing, in essence, a party-line vote would have discredited the Supreme Court, because it would have shown that even clearly significant cases are now reduced to which justice is loyal to the President, or not.
For that reason, it would have made sense for the Chief Justice to throw the ball back in the Senate’s court, hoping it would clarify the extent to which Neri intended to be obstructionist. The Palace, for its part, faced with a sure loss if the Supreme Court had voted, could also look forward to a reprieve, while Neri in the meantime could invoke executive privilege, get into trouble with the senators, and have the whole thing end up back in court.
By which time, a new Justice would have been appointed, thus further firming up the administration’s numbers in the high court.
The Senate, though, in rejecting the compromise offered by the Chief Justice, and which has therefore puts pressure back on the court. The Supreme Court can now proceed to drag its feet: SC needs time for final ruling on executive privilege.
Lawyer Teddy Te, for one, is happy over the Senate’s decision (see his blog, Vincula):
After nine hours of orals, the Supreme Court Chief Justice offers a compromise–perceived by Malacanang to be “solomonic”, which should already put you on guard–to the Senate: 1. Neri will testify at the Senate, 2. he will not be arrested anymore, 3. but the three questions he had invoked “executive privilege” against will not be asked anymore and will be considered asked, and 4. each and every time he invokes executive privilege, the issue will be tossed back to the Court.
My first reaction was that it was a “cop out” by the Court, after strong decisions on press freedom and showing strong resolve against EJK and ED with amparo and habeas data. Later on, after speaking with very reliable sources, it made sense–though I still didn’t agree with the compromise; my sources told me that the CJ and Justice Carpio felt outvoted by the Gloria people in the Court and feared a loss had they insisted on a decision–so to avoid a loss, the CJ offered the compromise. One step backward, two steps forward–was it Lenin who said this, or Tommy Manotoc? Yes, it made sense but it still left me with a bad taste in the mouth.
If the Senate approved the deal, Gloria wins, hands down and the Senate loses, big time. The power of the Senate to summon witnesses would be severely impaired and the dictator gets away with silence on the three questions that directly place the ZTE deal at her doorstep.
I am glad that the Senate FINALLY acquired a collective spine (did that include you, Joker?) and some collective sense of identity and history and said, “thanks, but no thanks.” I hope the SC addresses this issue and, despite the lifting of E0 464, rules that its invocation under those circumstances was not proper and that Neri SHOULD answer those 3 questions.
This explains, to my mind, why the Palace slams Senate’s ‘arrogance’ for rejecting SC proposal. The compromise could have hidden the party-line vote it had in the Supreme Court; and it bought that most precious of political commodities, time. But, since anything is possible, it could also happen that an irritated Supreme Court, piqued by the Senate’s rejection, could then simply decide in Neri’s favor.
In the meantime, returning to Fr. Bernas’ piece, some problems now arise:
If no compromise is reached, will the court require Neri to appear at the Senate? Neri has claimed that he has the right not to heed the Senate’s call.
Should the court require Neri to appear, it would mean that for the court, the current Senate inquiry is not one where President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo may prevent a department secretary from appearing, as provided for in Article VI, Section 22 of the Constitution.
Rather, the court would be saying that the current Senate inquiry is one in aid of legislation under Article VI, Section 21.
In Senate v Ermita, the court said that only the President and justices of the Supreme Court are exempt from summonses to an investigation in aid of legislation. Neri is neither the President nor a justice of the Supreme Court.
Should Neri still refuse to appear, in effect he would be claiming a right analogous to the right of an accused against self-incrimination. An accused can completely refuse to take the witness stand.
But if Neri is required to appear, the court would be saying that his situation is more analogous to the right against self-incrimination of a witness who is not an accused.
A witness who is not an accused may raise the defense of right against self-incrimination only when an incriminating question is asked. He has no right to refuse to take the witness stand altogether.
By analogy, the court would be saying that Neri may raise the issue of executive privilege only when a question he deems to be against executive privilege is asked.
It should be remembered that executive privilege belongs to the President and to no one else. At most, it can be claimed by the executive secretary by express authority of the President.
Hence, Neri must be able to show that after prior consultation with the President, he was instructed to claim executive privilege.
Whereupon, following the teaching of Senate v Ermita and in accordance with the tenor of the questions posed by the justices on Tuesday, Neri will be asked what exactly he is seeking to hide behind executive privilege.
At this stage, and as already mentioned during the Tuesday hearing, it may become necessary for the court to examine in chambers the secret sought to be guarded by the executive for the purpose of determining whether indeed the matter can or should be legitimately kept from the eyes of the public.
After all, the Senate has to be properly informed if it is to legislate intelligently, and the public generally has a constitutional right to be informed of matters of public concern.
Moreover, as already admitted in the Tuesday hearing, criminal matters are not covered by executive privilege.
Meanwhile, the story behind this news item –Arroyo revokes EO 464 after meeting with religious leaders– I found out last night. No one was supposed to know the President was going to meet her allied bishops, particularly the ones from Mindanao, at the Discovery Suites. However, the media was tipped off and reporters camped out. This meant that attendees were observed coming and going. And that the President ended up making her announcement sooner than planned. Speaking of bishops, Patricio P. Diaz dissects recent statements by the Catholic hierarchy.
In the meantime, Senators also want Memorandum Circular 108 scrapped. Check out smoke’s comparison of E.O. 464 and M.C. 108.
When he does publish a book, it will a doozy. Read Lito Banayo’s growing feeling of Déjà vu. Meanwhile, the plot thickens: Arroyo not just witness at NBN-ZTE deal signing: and Another China contract missing.
And Gail Ilagan has some interesting observations concerning Lozada’s abduction.
Economic news: Poverty worsens between 2003 and 2006, according to the National Statistics Coordination Board. (see Poverty worsens despite growth and Poor Filipino families now number 4.7 million and More Filipinos below poverty line ) In his blog, [email protected] comments on the figures. In his column, Peter Wallace says that while government claimed 7.3 percent GDP growth last year, the real figure is about 4.8 percent growth. See also Inflation surges to 5.4% in February and NEDA expects to record growth slowdown in Q1.
How do foreign analysts go about determining risk in the Philippines? Read Forecast that Arroyo will survive has ‘large margin of error’ – analyst.
In the blogosphere, Phoenix Eyrie, Reloaded, is at the very least, ambivalent about opposition to the President. Spring Roll is confused by recent events. Mandaluyong High School says, let’s think positive. Splice and Dice thinks that the issues gives people a chance to seize the day. blackshama believes the old People Power is dead, long live whatever replaces it.
Observations from a Lowly Traveller is looking forward to migrating. Bayan ni Kabayan looks at the Neri chart.
Yes CVJ that is how the NSO compiles its data.
I have been a witness to this,since I used to work for a port opearator ;and I also used to get the import data from customs as well ,for that particular port operator.
What they get is the electronic manfests, at minsan o mas madalas di nila nakakacapture lahat kaya minsan di rin accurate.
About some smuggled goods having no documentation, actually most of them have yun, nga lang puro misdeclarations at madami din tayong technical smugglers.
If I am not mistaken you used to work for Unisys and they were the ones handling the computerization of Customs during the time of Parayno,kaya I think you already know what I am talking about. And di ko lang alam kung dejavu, mukhang napag usapan na natin dati ito.
and to digress about that ADB report CVJ,I also recall that we also considered election spending as a means to have a high GDP and that issue is being reiterated by ADB.
Hmmm, with Noli? I wonder.–kabayan
as i stated here in my previous post, i only have one person in mind to lead a transition government in case gma finally gets kicked out of malacanang, reynato puno.
noli up to this hasn’t proven that “he is his own man”. i don’t find in him the qualities needed of a leader to lead this country out of the current misery. and i don’t like the idea just to accept noli as the alternative because he is the vp and the constitutional succesor.
furthermore, i agree with conrado de quiros that if and when gma is removed out of malacanang, there will be no vacancy in presidency because gma’s mandate ended in 2004. 2004 elections was mired with cheating and the “hello garci” tapes issue hasn’t been fully resolved thus creating a cloud of doubt as to gma’s legitimacy.
therefore it just make sense to have a transition government installed post gma. and reynato puno is the person where we can all agree to lead us.
noli might be a good person, but he is not “the man”.
😉
“I have been a witness to this,since I used to work for a port opearator ;and I also used to get the import data from customs as well ,for that particular port operator.” – karl garcia
Karl, I sooo know how this feels. I’ve been trying to make a decent report on importation of a particular commodity but I can’t seem to get it right. I get some copies of the import manifests from a certain company that specializes in business intelligence but when I cross check the data with data from local market they don’t tally. Even the industry forecasts/estimates made by regional researchers are way off tangent. It simply can’t be done, I tell you…
that will only happen if we have extradition treaties with every single country in the world. plus if all those countries respect the philippines as an equal. we can’t even enforce extradition with some countries we have this treaty with…
mita, he’s trying to be funny without the humor. Am not at all offended because it isn’t true. They can always refer to my blog.
When a person talks about dishonesty and corruption while he is using company time and resources–in my book, that person is a hypocrite.
“When a person talks about dishonesty and corruption while he is using company time and resources–in my book, that person is a hypocrite.” – The Cat
So true…
Karl, thanks for your first hand account! I was wondering, do you think the smuggled oil is mostly in the form of technical smuggling? This article by Manila Standard says that about one-third of last year’s oil was smuggled:
http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/?page=politics1_jan24_2008
If what that article says is true, that means that GDP is overstated by 133 Billion Pesos on that alone i.e. by 2%. Of course, if it was technical smuggling, then we have to subtract from the overstatement the misdeclared amount that goes into imports.
Correction! Its HI HO SILVER, AWAY!
followed by tararan tararan tararantantan tararan tararan tararantantan tararan tararan tararantantan tan tararan tantan
The LOne Ranger and his sideckick TONTO!
Baka pati Muppet Show mali ka pa rin?
What I find so PLASTIC about JDV and the others is that if GMA had not threatened him in one way or another, then I suppose he won’t be blabbering about what he found out.
It’s a case of “Laglagan”.
Strange…
You left one ingredient: people collectively establish governments using INSTITUTIONS as channels for such undertaking.
So everything is done through institutions and the strengths of said institutions determines how well the whole system works.
…in philippine politics, shifting of party allegiance or changing of loyalty is as common as changing your dirty shirt everyday( if you do change your dirty shirt).
😉
benign0,
What if such an institution is corrupted already, can you honestly say something good will come out of it still?
Escuse me, pwede ba magbenta ng second hand products dito :
Electric Fan – Php 650.00 Stand Fan
TV – Samsung/ Sony and Sharp – 24″ Php 1,000.00 per month, 6 months to pay.
Please reply to me or text me at 0926-7478585
…in short there is no loyalty at all! 🙂
especially if large sum of money is involved!
It’s very easy for the youth to say na “PALITAN”, “BAGUHIN” , “ITUMBA”, but we really do not have any good option of who will then take over the reins of power once GMA falls.
Noli de Castro? Come on.
“…in short there is no loyalty at all!
especially if large sum of money is involved!” – istambay
This is especially true with thieves. Remember the saying “THERE IS NO HONOR AMONG THIEVES.” Thats why a good organized crime boss must always get rid of loose ends…
Oi Ramrod,
Mukhang kailangan mo ng deodorant. Ang lakas mong mang-asar eh bugok ka rin naman.
Ulul!
…..taran taran taran tan tan taran taran taran tan tan… here comes the cavalry! 😉
@ Ramrod
Uy, Ramrod, type kita eh…gusto mo mag-sex tayo?
Doree,
Bawal kaya yan dito. Manolo, help!!!
Yesterday, my brother John who spoke like a Nazi was abused by this forum.
Please do not say cuss words to people.
Let’s have a peaceful debate.
Thanks
KASI….MGA KATOTO DIN NAMAN NI MANOLO ANG NAMBABASTOS DITO AH.
KAYA HAYAN MAY NAG-CHALLENGE!
HEHEHEE
MLQ ,
If you really are a moderator, muzzle the people who are abusive here.
Imagine, my brother was just saying his point of view courteously, then people like the DEvil’s Advocate guy lambasted him with the “f” word.
Please MLQ
Thank you.
ITONG MGA ANTI-GMA PAG NATATALO NA SA DEBATE, EH, INI-NAMECALL KA NA.
HAY….NAKU.
PURO KAYO HEARSAY, HEARSAY, HEARSAY
PARE PAREHO KAYONG MGA UGOK TULAD NI JUN LOZADA
EH SINUNGALING NAMAN YUNG KALBONG YUN!
karl,
I believe Manolo expects us to MODERATE ourselves, we’re mature enough to do so, I believe.
HOY ISTAMBAY SA KALYE…SUNTUKAN NA LANG.
BAYARAN KA KASI SA RALLY EH
i doubt manolo condones anybody here who are being outright disrespectful to others, whether they share same ideas or different from him.
we are all adults here and we should practice self-restraints when things are getting out of hand. manolo cannot referee us all the time. we are not little kids anymore. although he does let you know when you are way out of bounds.
i myself is a recipient of a gentle reminder to behave and be respectful of others. respect goes both ways too.
as is goes, we can disagree without being disagreeable. hope i got that right. peace! 🙂
We’re under attack by schizophrenics, bi polars, multi personalities. Brace yourselves for the close encounter of the dissociative diseased kind!!!
Yes ramrod, manolo expects to us, but he must give a stern warning to those who abuse the freedom of this forum.
Kaunting paalala lang from him would make a big difference.
thanks ramrod
…and don’t get onion skinned especially kung and dating mo ay malakas rin. as in physics’ newton’s 3rd law: “Every action has an equal and opposite reaction”.
peace! 🙂
“HOY ISTAMBAY SA KALYE…SUNTUKAN NA LANG.” – gerry
In your case kurutan na lang kaya? Baka hindi marunong sa sinasabi mo? Ikaw rin… 🙂
HOY ISTAMBAY SA KALYE…SUNTUKAN NA LANG.
BAYARAN KA KASI SA RALLY EH—gery? penalosa?
big fan of manny pacquiao i bet! hahahahaha 🙂
I can’t imagine people or rather brutes like Gerry could penetrate this free talk.
SORRY PO…SORRY PO. TAKOT AKO.
BWAHAHAHAHA
“HOY ISTAMBAY SA KALYE…SUNTUKAN NA LANG.†– gerry
march 15, 2008 at las vegas, nevada.
MANNY Vs. MARQUEZ
Ramrod yaah, It can’t be done not in this lifetime.
By the way I have been longing to ask this,since I clicked on your link, I found out that you were an Ayer and peobably of class 86 or 87,correct,Sir?
Do you know a certain Sean Villa, Kung tinuloy mo Lt.Col, Col ka na siguro ngayon.
Well,at least I can say good luck in your daily life as a businessman ako magstastart pa lang, mararanasan ko din yung mga sakit ng ulo mo.
CVj, I’ll take a look at the link. Matagal na yung oil smuggling NFA rice smuggling and the works.
Going back to GDP data.
Sa example namin ni Ramrod kung yung data gatherers natin,can’t seem to get it right no matter how good our statisticians are, it is still garbage in garbage out.
Mkakapture sana sa Consumption factor e di naman lahat nagrerresibo , tapos yung milestone natin na 7.3di ba ddpaat tayo magpasalamat sa mga election spending ni Pichay,Recto,Singson,etc….kaya it will always be guesstimates,no mather what all the PHDS in Neda will say
=====================================================
On spratleys, I read how the DFA wants to spiin it or explain, it,panahon pa daw ni Cory yung agreement, in fact he named predecessor Doy Laurel ok dead men can’t talk,blame them. Aas to why anly disclose this to the public now,maybe they did disclose it di lang tayo interado nung time na dinisclose.
Tulad ng namemtion ko dati na link rpchina.blogspot.com, It is a blog that tries to compile all the deals of gMsa with RP and china, I have been seeing that url in the letters to the editors since last year pero wala masyadong nagbabasa ng letters to the editors, kaya di rin natin masisi ang media sa style nila ng panghightlight ng issue,dahil madami din naman tayong di pinapansin dati.
sa mga tina tamad mag type ng rpchina.blogspot.com sa address bar nila,here is the link:
RPCHINA
Karl:
he does. i’ve seen him moderate ColdKing in previous threads. i’m sure if he scans the thread later, he’ll see something.
but it would do you well also to scan the thread and see how this word war developed. and while devils comes off as abrasive, to his credit this is one of the few times he’s resorted to open cussing, perhaps your brother struck a nerve.
i’m not taking sides here, but i do think the escalation was unfortunate. however, it would do everyone who posts here to respect each others’ opinion. while we may not be at the same level of intellectual development, we all deserve to have our say.
thing with manolo’s blog though, is that you have to expect reactions, and you’ll get all sorts.
istambay_sakalye said,
Amen to that.
karl,
These things happen really, but rarely. We get pissed off, cool down for a while, and then move on.
Nothing personal really…
If its not mentioned again, its forgotten…Peace to you John…
Well if you will choose to mount an effort that is outside of the processes enshrined in said institutions, then you will have to go the whole nine yards and completely DESTROY the existing institutions and systems and replace them with new ones in the aftermath of said effort.
A half-baked mediocre “revolution” such as these moronic street antics we’ve had since 1986 and the ones being proposed by today’s cretins simply weaken the existing system and allow more cretins to infest these institutions.
That’s the answer. You either work with the ones we have now, or destroy them completely if you want another extra-constitutionally undertaken change in administration.
Do it half-way (i.e. da Pinoy way) and all you get are (and this is a no-brainer) half-baked results (pwede na yan mentality kung baga).
My brother really struck a nerve siguro.
Talagang pinagsalitaan lang siya in his face ng di maganda.
The abrasion of Devil’s Advocate only shows na hindi lahat ay bagay sa debate.
Like Gerry, feeling ko may problema yan eh.
Peace!
@ ramrod
I’m sure my brother will accept your apology.
Kasi baka image nun sa inyo is a Nazi skin-head, actually hindi, mukhang pari nga yun eh. Mahilig lang talaga sa German History.
Peace.
CVj, read the link, thanks!
Since we all know it is not only oil that is smuggled then it is way over 133 %
Dito sa pinas pati Customs examiners ang gaganda ng mga Kotse e.
Dito makakaita tayo ng Ferrari mabibilib pa tayo eh, di na natin iisipin smuggled kaya yan.
Pero,with due respect to our statisticians and economists,they are doing a thankless job.
I don’t believe it really, but I totally agree with you on this one. Compromise for expediency will never work…
Karl:
There are two people i know on the comments that almost always totally rub people the wrong way: benign0 and Bencard.
These guys have been called every venomous thing everyone else has thought of, but like them or not, they have their points.
The Ca t shoots down comments at times with a brutal efficiency, and yet if you take a second look, she makes a hell of a lot of sense.
In the marketplace of ideas, there should be no room for ad hominems, but as we are a group of people passionate about the goings on in our homeland (whether we are actually here or not), you can’t really expect anyone to be dispassionate.
evn cvj, who is one of the more “toned down” of the commenters here imho, can’t resist taking a few swipes at Gloria as well. hehehe
Karl, in deference to you being a good friend of mine, i will apologize to your brother.
John, sorry. i was out of line. i knew that but i had to get it out of my system. tonio’s right, you struck a nerve. anywhoo, there is another comment of mine in moderation and i said the f word there again for the last time.
let us agree to disagree from this point okay?
i’ll try to look for other outlets when some comments get my goat.
hey guys,
Seriously. Brace yourselves for another round of petrol increase, and subsequent price increase in other commodities…Transport strike Tuesday next week also. Of course, Gloria has nothing to do with this. 🙂
People Power has lost its functionality. – blackshama
People Power is liberal fascism. – DJB
There may be as many critiques of People Power as there are advocates. – Abe N. Margallo
i see people power as a system disturbance exploited by people to force a state transition otherwise precluded by the control mechanisms. being outside of system countrol, it plays outside of any rule, neither its elements, methods nor effect. its result can range from a single component, as in 2001 or the overhaul of the entire system itself, as in 1986. it is powered by numbers and fueled with anger. its rationale can be sublime (edsa 1) or ignoble (edsa 3), depending on where you are looking from. (one man’s revolutionary is another man’s rebel). its gripping allure is its unpredictability. but the only lasting effect it leaves on society is government instability, because the string of coup attempts that we had were no doubt inspired by that delusion, people power.
let us work for change, but let’s reject people power.