Let Cabinet execs attend hearing, Imee appeals

Senator Imee Marcos on Wednesday appealed to Malacañang to allow executive branch officials to attend the next Senate inquiry into the arrest of former President Rodrigo Duterte.

In a letter addressed to Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, Senator Marcos called on the Palace to reconsider its decision not to allow Cabinet members to attend the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations hearing on Thursday, 3 April.

“The committee is keen on providing the executive officials an opportunity to clarify issues and questions that surfaced in the last hearing. There are likewise new pieces of information that the committee has received, and in the interest of fairness and transparency, the committee would like to give the executive officials a chance to explain their side relative to the information,” the senator stated in her letter.

The letter dated 1 April was in response to an earlier letter sent by Bersamin to the upper chamber in which he said the further participation of the Cabinet members “may no longer be necessary.”

According to the President’s alter ego, the executive officials “dutifully attended” the hearing on 20 March and “sincerely answered all the questions to the best of their knowledge, and candidly provided all information elicited by the Senate committee members.”

“Given the extensive disclosures made, we believe that further participation may no longer be necessary at this time, especially considering that the Honorable Chairperson has publicly relayed her comprehensive findings thereon,” Bersamin said.

Palace: Nothing to hide

In a press briefing on Wednesday, Malacañang said the Cabinet officials who attended the Senate inquiry into Duterte’s arrest by the ICC had provided sufficient answers to the queries.

Presidential Communications Office Undersecretary Claire Castro said there was nothing to hide, noting that the first hearing allowed the Cabinet officials to address the issue.

Castro said the officials believed the information shared in the previous hearing was sufficient, especially given Senator Marcos’ preliminary findings.

She said their responses should have been enough to elicit legislative action.

Imee cites insufficiency

Senator Marcos, however, did not accept the justifications, saying the reasons Malacañang gave were insufficient.

She emphasized that Supreme Court rulings affirmed the Senate’s authority to conduct investigations as part of its mandate, regardless of ongoing legal cases.

“The power of legislative inquiry is an essential component of legislative power. The same cannot be made subordinate to a criminal or an administrative investigation or special civil actions pending before the Supreme Court,” she said.

The senator stressed that executive privilege should not be used as a shield to evade government officials’ accountability to the public.

“I hope that you reconsider your decision and allow the invited Cabinet members to attend the scheduled hearing,” she said.

Hearing showed ‘glaring violations’

Last week, Senator Marcos highlighted the “glaring violations” of Duterte’s constitutional rights during his arrest on 11 March.

Citing the preliminary findings of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations into Duterte’s arrest, she said there were glaring violations of the rights of the former president.

“The constitutional safeguards guaranteeing liberty and due process of law were not observed. No warrant was issued by a Philippine court. The arrest did not fall within the exceptions of a warrantless arrest,” she said.