Palace allows government men in Senate probes

Malacañang allowed several officials to attend two Senate hearings yesterday that the Palace said were clearly in aid of legislation — an apparent effort to prove it has no intention of using President Arroyo’s Executive Order No. 464 to block legislative inquiries.

Some officials of the Department of Finance, Bureau of Internal Revenue, Bureau of Customs, Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA), Bases Conversion Development Authority (BCDA) and Camp John Hay Management Corp. attended two Senate hearings on three bills.

The hearings were jointly conducted by the Senate committees on government corporations and public enterprises, chaired by Sen. Richard Gordon, and the committee on ways and means, chaired by Sen. Ralph Recto.

"These two hearings were clearly in pursuit of legislation and we in the executive (branch) cooperated. There is no question of our willingness to work for the passage of pending and vital legislation," Presidential Adviser on Political Affairs Gabriel Claudio told The STAR.

Mrs. Arroyo is accusing Senate President Franklin Drilon and opposition lawmakers of abusing their legislative oversight powers to destabilize her administration by purportedly investigating corruption.

Citing executive privilege, she issued EO 464 last Thursday to bar officials from appearing in congressional inquiries without prior clearance from her.

Lawmakers lambasted the order, saying it infringed on the Congress’ oversight powers, and accused the Palace of a cover-up.

Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye said the Palace is ready to defend the presidential directive, insisting it has legal bases provided for by the Constitution.

Claudio said the officials’ attendance yesterday proved that the Arroyo administration is not trying to curtail Congress’ powers.

"The key message of EO 464 (is) that we are standing our ground that the main function of the legislature is to enact laws and we’re just providing members of the Executive to have something to fall back on in cases where some members of Congress abuse their prerogative in dealing with a co-equal branch of government," he said.

Finance Undersecretary Gabriel Singson Jr., BIR Assistant Commissioner James Roldan, newly appointed SBMA Administrator Armand Areza and BCDA chairman Filadefo Rojaz, Atty. Juanito Antonio, president of the Poro Point Corp. were among the officials who appeared at the hearings.

Claudio, who heads the Presidential Legislative Liaison Office, said if the hearings were not in aid of legislation but to discredit the administration, the Palace was unlikely to grant the officials permission to appear before the Senate.

Last Thursday, several officials failed to attend a Senate inquiry on a China-funded railway project because of the executive order.

Opposition lawmakers claim the project being pushed by Mrs. Arroyo had several anomalies, charges similar to those contained in the impeachment complaint against Mrs. Arroyo, among others.

Claudio insisted the EO was never meant to gag any member of the Executive branch nor challenge the proper exercise of Congress’ powers.

He said the last thing the Palace needs is to jeopardize its relations with Congress, stressing that Mrs. Arroyo had asked leaders of both chambers of Congress to pass at least seven urgent measures, including the proposed P1-trillion national budget for 2006 and anti-terrorism bill, by the end of the year.

"We’d like to think that members of Congress can understand the honest intentions behind the EO," Claudio said.

He said he does not believe that the latest broadside against Senate President Franklin Drilon by Presidential Spokesman Ignacio Bunye would jeopardize the passage of the Palace-backed bills.

Bunye accused Drilon yesterday of plotting Mrs. Arroyo’s ouster through a series of legislative inquiries, among them the probe into the railway project.

Bunye said even with his damning allegations that Drilon "set up" Mrs. Arroyo to have her impeached or step down would not necessarily endanger the passage of pending bills.

"There are different levels of relations," he said. He did not elaborate.

In defending EO 464, Bunye said it is similar to Memorandum Order No. 112 issued on Sept. 29, 1987 by then President Corazon Aquino, which he said laid down the ground rules on the attendance of members of the Executive branch in legislative hearings.

"EO 464 is expanded. But basically, it lays down the ground rules for attending hearings," Bunye said. "This EO has been studied by our own legal panel and it has a constitutional basis."

He dismissed allegations by critics that EO 464 is an impeachable offense. "That’s their opinion." — With Aurea Calica, AP