Pimentel urges colleagues to act swiftly on defiant government officials

Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. urged his colleagues yesterday to arrest and hold in contempt government officials who continue to snub Senate inquiries in aid of legislation.

Pimentel implored them to act on the matter immediately, saying the Senate should go ahead with the imposition of sanctions on cabinet members and heads of agencies who continue to ignore Senate summons to testify in the hearings.

He does not agree with the proposal of some senators to bring the case to the Supreme Court (SC), particularly to seek clarification on its earlier ruling on the issue of Executive Order No. 464.

"The better option for the Senate is to hold the people who refuse to heed its summons in contempt, order their arrest and detention. Then, let those, who do not believe that the Senate has that power, contest it before the Supreme Court," Pimentel said.

"Since it is our power as Senate that has been rebuffed several times by people who are merely trying to delay, if not obfuscate the issues of our investigations, let them question our power to impose sanctions on their recalcitrance," he added.

A renewal of the bitter conflict between the Senate and Malacañang has taken place because of the refusal of the administration to allow Cabinet members and other officials to attend the Senate inquiry into the reported misuse of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration’s fund meant for Filipinos working overseas.

Both sides have cited the SCs ruling on the issue, which provided the guidelines for the attendance of officials under the Executive branch in congressional hearings.

The two sides, however, have taken a different interpretation of the ruling.

On the matter of the Senate committee involved submitting advance questions to Malacañang prior to the hearing, Pimentel maintained that this is only required during the Senate’s so-called "Question Hour" in accordance to the provisions of the Constitution.

Malacanang has insisted that this rule be applied even on inquiries in aid of legislation and has demanded this is as one of the conditions for the attendance of the concerned officials.

"I don’t see that specified anywhere in the Constitution," Pimentel said.

Six government officials have been issued subpoenas by the Senate committee on labor, chaired by Sen. Jinggoy Estrada, after they failed to attend two consecutive hearings on the OWWA fund issue.

Estrada has since suspended the hearings but has referred the action to be taken by his committee to the Senate’s legal department, which would interpret the guidelines in the Supreme Court ruling.

Pimentel warned that the Senate may be unwittingly allowing the dilution of its powers under the Constitution by not acting on the issue.

"We have to assume that what we are doing is right. And I think tradition and practice and the wordings of the Constitution will support my view that we are in the right when we order the arrest of people who refuse to appear before the Senate," Pimentel said.

"If we allow that to go unchallenged, that will whittle down the powers of the Senate as an investigate body which needs to look into the anomalies perpetrated by the administration." — Marvin Sy