Gov’t officials to attend Senate’s Duterte hearing

Palace press officer Claire Castro —Screengrab from RTVM/FACEBOOK

MANILA, Philippines — In a turnaround from its previous position, Malacañang confirmed on Monday that it has given its permission for some government officials to attend the ongoing Senate hearings into the March 11 arrest of former President Rodrigo Duterte.

In a news briefing on Monday, Palace press officer Claire Castro said the office of Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin has given a list of the names of officials who will appear before the Senate foreign relations committee chaired by Sen. Imee Marcos.

Castro said that President Marcos yielded to the Senate’s request for reconsideration after talking to Senate President Francis Escudero.

READ: Cabinet members snub Senate hearing on Duterte’s arrest

“The President showed respect for [Escudero’s] request, provided, of course, that the questions would not tackle issues covered by executive privilege,” she said.

Castro confirmed Escudero’s earlier pronouncement that some officials of the executive branch would be attending the third hearing of the committee, which is looking into the legality of Duterte’s arrest and transfer to The Hague to stand trial before the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Alleged cover-up

Senator Marcos earlier decried the alleged “cover-up” by the administration after only three of 35 resource persons showed up at the second hearing on April 3.

She then pushed for subpoenas to be issued against the absentee officials as she rejected Bersamin’s explanation that the Palace had barred Cabinet members from attending future hearings, citing executive privilege and the sub judice rule.

“If an old, sick person dared to confront his disrespectful arrest, why aren’t these cowards in front of us? You can be mad [at] me, but isn’t it cowardice to not respond?” the senator said.

Escudero earlier raised concerns that the issuance of a subpoena against officials of the executive branch might lead to a constitutional crisis.

Cleared to attend

Among those listed as cleared to attend are Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla, Prosecutor General Richard Anthony Fadullon, and Chief State Counsel Dennis Arvin Chan.

Castro said also on the list are Foreign Secretary Enrique Manalo, Philippines Center on Transnational Crime Executive Director Anthony Alcantara, Philippine National Police chief Gen. Rommel Marbil, and Gen. Nicolas Torre of the PNP-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group.

Bersamin has also supposedly cleared Migrant Workers Secretary Hans Leo Cacdac, Special Envoy Markus Lacanilao, and two officials from the Securities and Exchange Commission.