MANILA, Philippines -- It?s not just the bishops who are demanding it. Now, even President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo?s allies, including her former classmates, want her to abolish her controversial Executive Order No. 464.

Alumnae and former classmates of Ms Arroyo at Assumption College called on her to scrap her gag order on officials of the executive branch, the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police invited to congressional hearings unless she authorized it.

In a statement, the group asked the President to ?immediately? cancel EO 464 and put a ?halt to military and police activities such as illegal surveillance, wiretapping, cell phone bugging and other forms of intimidation.?

?We make a stand and proudly add our voices to the millions of ordinary Filipinos who clamor for truth, accountability and reforms,? said the statement signed by 292 Assumption alumnae that was a veritable list of who?s who in Philippine society.

?We ask the Assumption family to combine prayer with critical discernment and principled action,? the statement said.

Vice President Noli de Castro joined the clamor against EO 464. So did rabidly pro-administration Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri, secretary general of the ruling Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats party.

?Let?s get rid of it?

?If EO 464 is a problem in the search for truth, let?s get rid of it,? said De Castro. ?I believe that the President knows that the truth must come out.?

?Since its issuance, EO 464 has gotten the ire of the people,? said Zubiri, the first administration senator to come out against the order.

?The President, as a sign of goodwill and to show that she is serious in stamping out corruption at all levels, should revoke EO 464 as soon as possible,? the senator added.

The question is: Will Malacañang finally put to rest the controversial presidential directive?

Last week, the Catholic Bishops? Conference of the Philippines, under pressure to take a stand on calls on Ms Arroyo to resign following widespread indignation over attempts to cover up Malacañang?s involvement in the scuttled $329-million National Broadband Network (NBN) project, called on her instead to dump EO 464 and allow her officials to reveal what they knew about the controversy.

Malacañang a day later announced that the CBCP recommendation would be studied by a legal team. Up to last weekend, the President?s chief legal counsel, Sergio Apostol, indicated the legal team was deep in the study of the ramifications of junking EO 464.
But when asked on Tuesday for an update, Apostol said he could not understand why he was being badgered by reporters about the EO.

?There?s no more EO 464,? said Apostol on the day the clamor to dump the directive mounted and while the Supreme Court itself was conducting a hearing on executive privilege -- keeping information regarded as sensitive from public scrutiny.

Already decided

?The issue has been already decided by the SC,? Apostol said.

The Supreme Court ruled in April 2006 that the provision in EO 464 prohibiting the appearance of officials without Ms Arroyo?s permission in legislative hearings in aid of legislation was unconstitutional.

Ms Arroyo issued EO 464 in 2005 to counter what she described as a ?politics of insult? after National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales was cited in contempt and ordered detained for refusing to answer questions on a government contract with a Washington lobby firm during a Senate hearing.

Apostol?s pronouncements virtually confirmed rumors that Malacañang had no other recourse but to scrap EO 464 altogether.

But Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said in a separate interview that Ms Arroyo could not act on the CBCP request until after a meeting with bishops slated this week. Ermita said the President ?is kept abreast of the situation.?

Ermita said the bishops should know that EO 464 was not only about concerns about preventing Cabinet members from appearing before the Senate.

Separation of powers

?The very title, I recall, is ensuring that the principle of separation of powers is observed and ensuring that the rights of those invited to such hearings are respected. All of that will be explained to the bishops,? Ermita said.

He refused to say if the legal team was leaning toward recommending the formal revocation of EO 464.

?I cannot tell you where it?s leading to. There?s got to be a statement that we will make after our dialogue with the bishops for the satisfaction of all concerned,? Ermita added.

Playing safe

In a radio interview, De Castro also took exception to reports that he was always playing it safe on important issues affecting the country, such as the NBN scandal.

De Castro said the perception of his being ?weak? and ?incompetent? to assume the presidency in the event of a vacancy was influenced mostly by the political leanings of the one making the accusation.

He said he had repeatedly made known his position on the NBN scandal -- for the truth to come out and the prosecution of those involved in the anomaly.

He said he favored continuation of the Senate hearings to ferret out the truth in the NBN anomaly in the hope that these would lead to the prosecution of those involved.

De Castro denied that he was in touch with some political groups or prominent entities as well as military officers who are advocating a constitutional succession in the event of the President?s resignation or ouster. With reports from Michael Lim Ubac, Cynthia D. Balana, Daxim L. Lucas, Dona Z. Pazzibugan, and Eliza Victoria, Inquirer Research