Senators want SC to dismiss petition seeking to bar listening to 'Hello Garci' tapes

Seven minority senators on Wednesday asserted that the Senate is not barred from playing the "Hello Garci" tapes as part of its inquiry, in aid of legislation, to unearth the truth about the tapes, and to provide the people with information on matters of public concern.

They articulated this stand in their comment before the Supreme Court to the petition of Santiago Ranada and Oswaldo Agcaoili which seeks to stop the Senate from reinvestigating the wiretapping controversy.

The senators, led by Minority Leader Aquilino Q. Pimentel, Jr., assailed the petitioners who are "hell-bent" on blocking the continued probe of the wiretapping of the phone conversations of then Elections Commissioner with President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and other penalties in connection with the attempt to rig the results of the 2004 presidential election.

The comment was also signed by Senators Benigno Aquino III, Rodolfo Biazon, Panfilo Lacson, Loren Legarda, Jamby Madrigal and Antonio Trillanes.

"Instead of expressing outrage over an alleged conspiracy to manipulate the 2004 elections, petitioners wish to emasculate the Senate and render it inutile in the performance of its constitutional mandate," the opposition senators said.

They said the playing of the tapes provides clues to an electoral conspiracy that a Senate investigation hopes to uncover so that among other things, appropriate legislation may be passed and suitable sanctions may be recommended to safeguard the electoral process and restore the people's faith in democratic institutions.

The seven senators argued that in the intended use of the Hello Garci tapes in the Senate inquiry, the rights of individuals must be made subordinate to the needs of the public good.

"Unless the power of the Senate to do so is upheld, the net effect is to cover up a sordid, evil and malevolent event that will forever blot the escutcheon of the Republic. In effect, to do nothing about it would not strengthen our institutions, it would weaken them," they said.

Arguing that there is no valid reason why the tapes should not be played or investigated by the Senate, the minority senators pointed out that the taped conversations between the President and the elections commissioner were about the conduct of the elections then ongoing at that time.

"When a taped conversation details a conspiracy between two constitutional officers for the commission of an electoral fraud to favor any candidate or specially when the fraud is intended to benefit the highest official of the land, then the right to privacy of an individual must yield to the Senate's power of inquiry and the people's right to information," they said.