Palace gag orders officially scrapped
By Joel Guinto
INQUIRER.net
First Posted 21:31:00 03/06/2008
Filed Under: Executive Order 464
MANILA, Philippines -- (UPDATE 2) Malacañang has officially scrapped Executive Order 464 and its accompanying guidelines which barred executive branch officials from testifying before legislative inquiries without President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's consent.
The revocation order was contained in Memorandum Circular 151, which Malacañang issued on Thursday, a day after Arroyo announced the scrapping of EO 464 to Roman Catholic bishops during a secret meeting.
"Following the pronouncement of the President, Executive order 464 dated September 28, 2005 is hereby revoked. Memorandum Circular No, 108 dated 27 July 2006 is hereby likewise revoked," the memorandum read.
"Executive officials and employees can no longer invoke Executive Order No. 464 and Memorandum Circular 108 as an excuse for not attending legislative inquiries in aid of legislation," it added.
However, the Palace said testimonies should "follow and abide by the Constitution, existing laws and jurisprudence."
Malacañang also retained the right of executive privilege.
Deputy presidential spokesperson Lorelei Fajardo asked senators to recognize the principle of executive privilege, which she stressed was enshrined in the Constitution.
"Those who create laws should understand the law. We expect that they should be the first to understand and follow the law," Fajardo said.
Several sectors, including the influential Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, had been calling for the abolition of EO 464 that had hampered legislative inquiries into alleged anomalies in government from proceeding because executive officials who could shed light on these issues would invoke the gag order to avoid testifying.
The calls intensified when Romulo 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 the Palace directive.
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