According to Malacañang, this EO was a reaction to the shabby treatment the Senate rendered to National Security Adviser Gonzales. "If the Executive Branch were indeed a co-equal of the Senate, was it proper for Gonzalez to be called a pimp?" asked an angry Bunye.
The senators, for their part, felt they were insulted ("ginagago") by the refusal of Sec. Gonzalez to answer very simple questions like "did you know who were the donors who paid for the Venable contract that you signed?" "who introduced Venable to him?" and so on. For the senators and for many viewers, it was incredible that one charged with a very sensitive and very important position as national security either did not even know the answers to the above questions or asked for more time to get the answers and seek clearance to their simple questions.
Malacañang maintains that EO 464 is not a Gag Order; it is meant to protect the Executive branch from an abusive Congress. If it were not a gag order, how can they explain the padlocking of the office of their government counsel who attended yesterday's Senate hearing about the North Rail Project? Why was his office padlocked and who ordered and who padlocked his office?
Malacañang also defends EO 464 as being copied from a similar EO issued by President Cory Aquino during her term. What they miss explaining to the public is that Cory's memo applied only to department heads, not to all government officials of the executive branch. Also, GMA's advisers must be squirming in their hot seats for failing to note that the memo was issued within the revolutionary government of Cory after the ouster of Marcos. Are we in a revolutionary situation now?
Fr. Joaquin Bernas, a noted Constitutional expert, IBP lawyers, the senators and a number of representatives think that EO 464 is definitely a gag order, "intended to block the checks and balances among co-equal branches of government."
Are we still a democracy, as Fr. Bernas noted, or are we at the mercy of "a rule of one woman?"
GMA has long decided since her " I am sorry" episode to keep silent about the rest of the truth about her electoral calls to a Comelec officer. Being Commander-in-chief, she also expects all military personnel to keep silent about the truth. Being President, she also expects her cabinet members and all other top government officials to treat truth the way she does? Does she really think truth can be gagged?
It is interesting to observe that the EO 464 was issued soon after it dawned on Malacañang that the Senate inquiries could finally ferret out the truth not only about the Garci tapes, about electoral fraud, about the question-ridden North Rail Project, and more questionable contracts and deals made by the GMA administration.
From the way the various Senate inquiries have been proceeding, did Malacañang fear that soon even Bunye, Ermita and the top officials could be summoned? And so what if they were? Isn't it only right for another independent branch of government to extract the truth and demand transparency from the Executive Branch about certain important issues affecting the public such as possible violation of their sacred right to vote through electoral fraud, payment of millions of dollars ( that may involve public funds) to questionable deals and contracts, and more?
It is also worth noting how Malacañang is now reacting to the Senate probes. For one, the conspicuous ads from wealthy supporters or GMA-friendly politicians have hogged (opps) many pages of the newspapers. Will tv soon be the venue of pro-GMA propaganda?
Remember clearly the most notable of Malacañang's response: The threat of imposing martial law. Malacañang is using the "unruly" protest rallies as well as destabilization as the reasons for a possible return of martial rule in the country. Malacañang has started with their no permit, no rally gag on anti-GMA protesters, their so-called "calibrated, preemptive response." Then now, EO 464.
Don't forget the loyalty checks and support given by the military, business, politicians and you know who are on tv and other media outlets. Add to the Malacañang counter-moves the recent releases of bonuses to the government employees, timed just after the expose about the millions of dollars paid for the Venable and the North Rail Projects were aired in Congress.
The Filipino people, however, cannot be fooled for long. Neither can truth be gagged forever. Di pod mahimong ma-gago forever ang mga katawhan despite the Gag Order 464 issued by the Executive and whatever preventive measures they may devise to keep the truth from being revealed, especially those related to electoral frauds and million dollar anomalies reaching all the way to the top of the Executive Branch.