Senate asks SC to nullify Duterte memo barring Cabinet execs from Senate probe

The Supreme Court building viewed from its closed gateway.—INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — The Senate has filed a petition before the Supreme Court to nullify a memorandum issued by President Rodrigo Duterte barring Executive officials from attending the Senate’s probe into the government’s procurement contracts with Pharmally Pharmaceuticals.

In their petition, senators also asked the high court to issue a restraining order against the memorandum while the petition is still pending.

The petition is supported by a Senate Resolution that allowed the filing of the case before the Supreme Court.

The Senate is represented by Senate President Vicente Sotto III, Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto, Senate Majority Floor Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri, Senate Minority Floor Leader Franklin Drilon, and Senate Committee on Accountability of Public Officers and Investigations Chairperson Richard Gordon.

The memorandum that is subject of the petition was signed by Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea upon the instruction of President Duterte.

Duterte has accused the Senate, specifically Senators Gordon of conducting the investigation for political gains.

READ: Gordon ‘first’ target as Duterte declares war on Pharmally probers 

The Senate Blue Ribbon inquiry revealed how a company with less than a million start-up capital has managed to bag over P8-billion medical supplies from the government.

READ: P8.7-B med supply deals went to tiny company 

In their 67-page petition, the Senate said the memorandum is “patently unconstitutional and in utter defiance” of the High Court’s ruling in the case of Senate v. Ermita that ruled that the Executive should not issue any directive that would frustrate the power of Congress to conduct inquiries in aid of legislation.

The Senate vs. Ermita case invalidated Executive Order 464 issued by then-President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo which requires officials to secure the President’s consent before attending legislative inquiries.

Petitioners pointed out that the high court, in that case, ruled that the Executive cannot bar Congress from doing its mandate by refusing to comply with its demand for information.

“Here, the subject Memorandum does exactly what Senate v. Ermita said the Executive Department could not: it directed ‘all officials and employees of the Executive Department to no longer appear before or attend’ the Subject Hearings. There has been no greater, more blatant disregard of a categorical ruling of the Honorable Court in recent memory,” the petitioner said.

The Senators added that Duterte’s memorandum also poses a threat to the Senate as “it hampers the institution’s mandate and ability to obtain, in a timely and effective manner, information necessary to prevent  future irregularities with regard to the COVID-19 pandemic.”

They added that the memorandum also violates the principle of separation of powers between the three branches of government.

“In this light, to allow the Executive to dictate how Congress should conduct legislative queries is no different from allowing it to tell the Honorable Court how the latter must conduct its deliberations,” the Senate said.

If not declared unconstitutional, the senators said the memorandum would weaken rule of law as it undermines the implementation of writs, processes, and warrants.

“To uphold the excuse of the Executive is to remove governmental malfeasance, misfeasance, and nonfeasance—including the prevention of a scandalous waste of public funds—from the Senate’s otherwise plenary power to prohibit via legislation. That certainly would not be an outcome consistent with the constitutional emphasis on the accountability of public officers,” it said.

This is not the first time that the Senate went to the Supreme Court to challenge an order from President Duterte.

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/MUF