Freezing the ball
Here we have a case of agents of the state apparently having engaged in a criminal act. Compounding the offense, their superiors apparently perjured themselves before official bodies in repeatedly denying the men and the unit to which they were assigned had the technical capability to undertake the alleged criminal offense.Comes the Senate which is proposing an inquiry in aid of legislation that would seek to prevent a repetition of the illegality. The Palace answer? It would not only not cooperate in the inquiry. It would also actively block the investigation by preventing the appearance of officials in the executive department from attending hearings.
The case is the wiretapping which was allegedly mounted by the Intelligence Service of the AFP.
The targets were sundry opposition personalities, one Palace operator (Mike Defensor) assigned to liaise with the opposition and a Comelec commissioner named Virgilio Garcillano. In the course of the wiretapping, the Isafp agents caught on tape somebody who sounded like Gloria Arroyo talking about cooking the results of the 2004 elections with Garcillano.
The administration has been stonewalling and muddling investigations into the "Hello Garci" tapes since Day One (remember Ignacio "I-Have-Two Tapes" Bunye?). We understand why the Palace has been moving heaven and earth to block investigations. If the Garci tapes are authentic, it means Gloria Arroyo stole the 2004 elections and her stay in Malacañang is under illegitimate pretenses.
We were, therefore, not surprised when Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita yesterday said the Palace would invoke EO 464 to prevent people from the executive department from attending Senate hearings.
It’s probably for the best, Malacañang again seeking refuge in an issuance the Supreme Court has declared unconstitutional. The Senate can again go to the Supreme Court and seek a tighter ruling on when executive department officials can be prevented by the President from attending inquiries in aid of legislation.
The ruling clearly says executive privilege may only be invoked when it involves department secretaries. It also sets specific conditions the legislature has to meet in inviting department heads. But it is also categorical in saying officials who are not department heads cannot be considered as enjoying executive privilege, which attaches to the President by extension.
It will be recalled that EO 464 was issued on the eve of the appearance of Marine Brig. Gen. Francisco Gudani and Lt. Col. Alexander Balutan before a Senate hearing into election rigging in the Lanao provinces. The hearing was called as an offshoot of the "Hello Garci" scandal. Gudani and Balutan were subsequently punished for violating a direct order from the AFP chief to ignore the Senate invitation.
The Supreme Court said Gudani and Balutan could not possibly be among the officials who require presidential approval before they can attend congressional hearings.
The way is clear for the Senate to invite all those perjurers from the Isafp and the AFP. So we are perplexed by Ermita’s mention of EO 464. A Supreme Court rebuff is a certainty. We guess the game plan is to freeze the ball until Gloria exits in 2010, which has been the strategy of the Palace since Bunye came up with his I-have-two tapes announcement.
