MANILA, Philippines -- President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has scrapped Executive Order No. 464 but has retained the right of executive privilege.

At the same time, Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye said it is unlikely the Palace would invoke Memorandum Circular (MC) 108, issued after the Supreme Court declared parts of EO 464 unconstitutional and described by critics as a virtual clone of the controversial order.

EO 464 bars officials in the executive department from testifying in legislative inquiries.

“Effective immediately I am revoking EO 464,” the President said in a statement.

She said, “Executive officials may no longer invoke EO 464 to excuse non-attendance from legislative inquiries.”

She instructed executive officials “to abide by the Constitution, existing laws, and jurisprudence when invited to legislative inquiries.”

Asked if Malacañang might invoke MC 108 if executives are summoned to appear before congressional inquiries, Bunye said: “I don’t think so. It’s a baby…it sprouted from EO 464.”

Malacañang said the formal order would be issued on Thursday.

However, Arroyo’s chief legal counsel, Sergio Apostol, could not say if the scrapping of EO 464 also means scuttling of MC 108, which says: “All heads of departments of the Executive branch of government shall secure the consent of the President prior to appearing at a question hour before either House of Congress.”

“There was no clear-cut pronouncement that it [MC 108] was also abolished. The President only mentioned…EO 464,” Apostol said over the phone.

Bunye also said Arroyo revoked the order because she also seeks truth and justice.

“The President listens to the people. It is in the best interest of everybody to heal our present conflict…so [she] issued the order revoking [EO 464] immediately,” Bunye told Palace reporters.

“The President agrees [to the] search for truth. The fight against corruption is a pillar of this administration,” he pointed out.

Apostol said executive privilege cannot be abolished because this is provided for in the Constitution.

Executive privilege is a constitutionally recognized right of the President to withhold from Congress, the courts and the public any information regarded as vital to the national interest. The material could include conversations and correspondence between the President and her officials on military, diplomatic and other national security issues.

“Of course, it [executive privilege] can’t be abolished. That is Constitutional,” Apostol said in a phone interview.

Bunye said Ms Arroyo had no power to abolish executive privilege.

The President hopes that the Senate would treat summoned officials with respect, Bunye said. He said senators should avoid unnecessary “abusive language” and should observe “bounds of appropriate conduct.”

The CBCP had only asked for the scrapping of EO 464, issued in September 2005 after senators cited National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales in contempt for refusing to answer questions involving a Washington lobby group.

The announcement revoking EO 464 was made after the 90-minute-long meeting between the President, controversial Commission on Higher Education chairman Romulo Neri, and some Cabinet officials, on one hand, and at least seven Catholic bishops, at the Discovery Suites in Ortigas Center in Pasig City, Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez said.

Several sectors, including the influential Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, have been calling on her to abolish the order that has prevented legislative inquiries into alleged anomalies in government from proceeding because executive officials who could shed light on these issues would invoke EO 464 to avoid testifying.

The calls intensified when Neri, the former socioeconomic planning secretary, refused to testify before the Senate inquiry into allegations of corruption in the national broadband network (NBN) project by invoking EO 464.

When threatened with a warrant of arrest, Neri went to the Supreme Court where he asked that a temporary restraining order be issued against the order.

Neri’s refusal to testify and the corruption exposé of Rodolfo Lozada Jr., whom Neri hired as consultant for the NBN project, spawned a series of protest actions calling for Ms Arroyo’s resignation.

Emerging from the meeting and asked how it went, Neri replied: “Okay naman [It was okay].”

However, when asked if he would testify at a Senate hearing on the NBN Friday, he waved his hand at reporters, signaling them to stop asking questions, and boarded his car.

Gonzalez, who was also at the meeting, did not name the bishops present but described the event as “cordial.”

Presided over by Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita, the dialogue was attended by the most powerful members of the Cabinet, including Gonzalez and Apostol, Norberto Gonzales, Presidential Management Staff Head Cerge Remonde, Trade and Industry Secretary Peter Favila, Transportation Secretary Leandro Mendoza, Budget Secretary Rolando Andaya and Interior Secretary Ronaldo Puno.

Puno echoed Gonzalez’ observation, saying, "The mood was very good, very constructive. We will be coming out with concrete steps on how we can push forward with the CBCP's recommendations."

He said the government would also discuss how to "move forward" to comply with the CBCP's pastoral letter against corruption.

However, Puno said EO 464 was not discussed all that much because "the President was decided in revoking it before the start of the meeting."

Bunye said Arroyo, the government officials present and the bishops discussed the possible implications of revocation and that the President made a decision to scrap EO 464 immediately.

“Towards the middle of the meeting, the President gave instructions, made the announcement that she will be revoking EO 464,” he said.

“The announcement was greeted, welcomed very warmly by those who attended the meeting,” he said.

CBCP president Angel Lagdameo expressed elation at Ms Arroyo’s announcement.

“We are happy and grateful that our appeal has been heard by the Chief Executive. That is very good news for me. That is already the first step,” the Jaro archbishop said.

Lagdameo, however, said he was not aware of the meeting in Pasig between the bishops and Ms Arroyo. He said he was told that there would be a dialogue but no formal invitation was relayed to the CBCP.

Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Oscar Cruz, a former CBCP president and Arroyo critic, expressed doubts about Ms Arroyo’s motive in revoking the order.

“There are many ways to skin a cat but we should not applaud immediately because Malacañang is just saying it lifted EO 464 because it’s what the bishops wanted,” Cruz said.

“Do you believe that she will allow all the truth to really come out? That is not rational,” he said.

The scrapping of EO 464 was one of the demands made by the CBCP last week in the midst of calls for her resignation.

On Tuesday, the Supreme Court proposed a compromise where Neri would not have to answer three questions concerning his conversations with the President who, he claimed in his only appearance at the Senate, knew of the alleged bribe offered to him by then Commission on Elections chairman Benjamin Abalos Sr. for a favorable endorsement of the telecommunications project.

But the Senate Wednesday overwhelmingly rejected the tribunal’s compromise solution.

Gonzalez downplayed the scrapping of the EO 464, noting that, “in effect there is nothing to revoke” as parts of the order had been struck down by the Supreme Court as unconstitutional.

Gonzalez said Arroyo arrived around 3 p.m. and left before 5.

Asked if he was concerned about Neri testifying before the Senate inquiry, Gonzalez said he was not and that “Neri will be allowed to testify for as long as he wants.”

Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano, chair of the Senate blue ribbon committee, said he was withholding judgment on Ms Arroyo’s move until he sees government officials no longer snubbing Senate hearings.

“What we need from the Executive is total and unconditional cooperation,” Cayetano said.

Marawi Bishop Edwin dela Peña suggested the creation of an independent commission with powers to summon witnesses to investigate the ZTE deal.

Supreme Court spokesperson Jose Midas Marquez said EO 464 was not synonymous with executive privilege. EO 464, he said, is an issuance of the President that can be lifted any time, while executive privilege is innate in her office and is provided for under the Constitution.

Vice President Noli de Castro welcomed Ms Arroyo’s action.

“I hope that all parties involved in the investigation shall act responsibly and with the highest regard for the national interest so that in the end the truth will prevail,” De Castro said.

Said Parañaque Rep. Roilo Golez: “It should not be considered a gift ... it is only a restoration of the right of the people to information, transparency, and to hold their officials fully accountable.”

The leftist Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) called the revocation of EO 464 “a victory for all truth seekers.”

“It was obviously brought about by snowballing calls for the full disclosure of the NBN-ZTE scandal and for the resignation of the President. However, so long as the skewed application of executive privilege remains, the government will continue its cover-up of the truth,” Bayan secretary general Renator Reyes Jr. said.

Reyes said “the fight for truth and accountability continues,” as he announced that another big anti-Arroyo multisectoral gathering has been set in Manila for March 14, one that would be led by Church and youth groups. With reports from Michael Lim Ubac, Kristine L. Alave, Jerome Aning, Dona Z. Pazzibugan and TJ Burgonio