Miriam to Trillanes: Cite legal basis for Ermita charge

MANILA, Philippines – Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago, chair of the Senate committee on foreign relations, asked Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV yesterday to defend his allegations that the appoint-ment of Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita as chairman of the technical working group (TWG) on baselines was “unconstitutional, illegal and improper.”

“This is the first time that a senator has ever questioned the discretion of a committee chair to appoint the head of a TWG and the first time that a senator has ever questioned the credentials of the head of the TWG,” Santiago said.  

In a letter sent to Trillanes’ office, Santiago requested her colleague to cite the legal bases for his charges against Ermita within 15 days. Santiago also asked Ermita to submit comments on Trillanes’ statements within the same time period.  

Trillanes filed Senate Resolution No. 614 alleging that Ermita presided over the TWG meeting held last Aug. 14 at the Bonifacio Hall of Malacañang, which undermined the independence of the Senate as an institution and constituted undue intervention in the official work of Congress.

Santiago said the practice of the Senate is to give full discretion to the chairperson of every committee in naming the head of the TWG.

“This is a practice in the Senate with respect to bills that are highly technical in nature,” she said.

Santiago said that the Ermita-chaired Commission on Maritime and Ocean Affairs should be the proper technical agency to head the TWG since the office was concerned with preparations for the filing of the Philippines’ claim for an extended continental shelf by the May 2009 deadline set by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

Santiago directed Ermita to temporarily abstain from presiding over the TWG meeting. She named her deputy chief of staff, lawyer Fatima Panontongan, as acting chair to avoid delays in meeting the May 2009 deadline.   – Aurea Calica