Sen. Juan Flavier said Gonzales’ release could serve as a confidence-building measure between the two sides, which have been at odds since the July 8 resignation of several members of the President’s Cabinet.
Flavier said both sides, in a way, had given in to some extent after Malacañang decided to junk the controversial Venable LLP lobby contract and the Senate decided to release Gonzales from a month-long detention.
Gonzales was cited for contempt by the Senate for refusing to answer questions regarding the Venable contract during a Senate inquiry. After that, he was hospitalized due to a heart ailment and was told to undergo bypass surgery.
The Senate Blue Ribbon’s interim committee report on the Venable contract investigation recommended the conditional release of Gonzales for "humanitarian" reasons, since he has a reported heart ailment. However, since the questions were not answered, the committee left the door open for further hearings if necessary.
Malacañang, for its part, thanked the senators for releasing Gonzales and expressed readiness to face any action by the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee regarding its investigation into the Venable contract.
Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said that the Palace and Gonzales would not run away from any responsibility arising from the Senate investigation.
Blue Ribbon panel chairman Sen. Joker Arroyo, however, said that with Gonzales’ release, he wants the issue to come to a close.
"With this investigation we were able to stop the Venable contract. After exposing it, President Arroyo ordered its rescission so the inimical effects of that to the country have been aborted. So that’s the good side of it," Arroyo said.
"It’s too bad that the Gonzales affair practically overshadowed the more important thing about the ill effects of the Venable contract," he added.
Arroyo, reiterated that the decision to release Gonzales was made on humanitarian grounds and belied claims that the Senate gave in to pressure from Malacañang.
However, Flavier noted that efforts to reconcile the Senate and Malacañang following the Gonzales matter should continue. — Marvin Sy, Paolo Romero