Sense of the Senate

We would just like to make certain clarifications regarding the news article “Resolution eyed to compel EDCA submission to Senate,” which was published in The Philippine STAR last Dec. 2, 2014.

The Supreme Court ruled in the 2005 case of Pimentel v. Executive Secretary that the President cannot be compelled to transmit a treaty to the Senate for its concurrence. Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago said that because of this ruling, the best the Senate can do is to pass a “sense of the Senate” resolution urging the President to transmit the EDCA to the Senate for concurrence. Hence, the headline of the article might cause confusion to your readers.—  Atty. JEANIE BACONG, Office of Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago