Vice President’s side was ignored, Binay camp laments
Role of legislature
Binay maintained that “[t]he role of the legislature is to make laws, not to determine anyone’s guilt of a crime or wrongdoing. It cannot adjudicate or prosecute.”
He cited the Supreme Court decision on Neri v. Senate blue ribbon committee (G.R. No. 180643, Sept. 4, 2008), which said that it is not the task of the legislature to investigate the culpability of government officials.
Binay also said that according to a Supreme Court decision, “the legislature cannot assume the powers reposed upon the prosecutorial bodies and the courts.”
“The determination of who is/are liable for a crime or illegal activity, the investigation of the role played by each official, the determination of who should be haled to court for prosecution and the task of coming up with conclusions and finding of facts regarding anomalies, especially the determination of criminal guilt, are not functions of the legislature,” Binay said.
Ombudsman power
The Vice President asserted that “(t)here is no congressional power to expose for the sake of exposure.”
“Under our Constitution, it is the Ombudsman who has the duty to investigate any act or omission of any public official, employee, office or agency when such act or omission appears to be illegal, unjust, improper, or inefficient,” he said.
“The Office of the Ombudsman is the body properly equipped by the Constitution and our laws to preliminarily determine whether or not the allegations of anomaly are true and who are liable therefore,” he said.
Binay also argued that “legislative inquiries, unlike court proceedings, are not subject to the exacting standards of evidence essential to arrive at accurate and factual findings upon which to apply the law.”
“These senators insist that I should answer all the accusations hurled against me. It bears to stress that these accusations are based on the bare allegations of local political detractors. These bare allegations are not supported by evidence,” he said.
Beyond scope of inquiry
The subcommittee’s inquiry, he said, “has gone beyond the scope of permissible areas allowed to be intruded into under the Constitution.”
“I and members of my family are being subjected to a trial by publicity as the hearing is not the proper forum to hear the accusations against us,” he said.
“I and members of my family are being held to answer unsubstantiated criminal accusations, i.e., based on hearsay and other inadmissible evidence,” he added.
Binay said the subcommittee intimidated witnesses who would testify in his favor and coached and rehearsed those who would lie and fabricate testimony against him.
“Indeed, by immediately endorsing to the Witness Protection Program the persons making bare accusations against me, the subcommittee has effectively indicted me of criminal wrongdoings. In effect they have induced and accepted as gospel truth the perjured testimonies of my political detractors,” Binay said.
The Vice President said he was “initially inclined to attend” the hearings, but added that he “could not simply disregard the rule of law, the Constitution and well-settled jurisprudence.” With a report from Leila B. Salaverria
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