Palace firm on executive privilege over Duterte’s ICC arrest

No show at the Senate's investigation into the arrest of former President Rodrigo Duterte by the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Thursday, Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin reaffirmed the administration's firm stance on upholding executive privilege.

Committee on Foreign Affairs chairperson Senator Imee Marcos earlier revealed that she received a letter from the Palace informing her that Cabinet officials would skip her committee’s next hearings tackling Duterte’s ICC detention, citing “executive privilege.”

Marcos said an official communication from Bersamin informed her and Senate President Francis Escudero that the Cabinet officials would not attend the second day of the hearing on April 3.

In response, Bersamin noted that the letter's purpose was to officially inform them that Cabinet secretaries and other executive officers would not be compelled to answer questions related to certain matters during the hearing.

“When we learned about the topics, kasi ‘yung invitation ni Sen. Imee (because Sen. Imee’s invitation) was quite specific about the topics, we looked at this invitation and determined that there are probably or likely topics that are covered by those matters that would come under executive privilege,” Bersamin told reporters in an ambush interview.

Marcos urged the Palace to "reconsider" the decision and allow Cabinet members to present their side.

“So it was best to get ahead with a letter to the senator and the Senate president so that they would be formally informed that in that hearing, our cabinet secretaries and other executive officers would not be forced to respond to questions concerning those matters. That's the essence of the letter,” Bersamin said.

During Thursday's hearing, the senator lamented the misunderstanding of the committee’s findings from the initial inquiry.

“Bilang tugon sa sulat ng ating ES, una, ang kaniyang tinukoy ay comprehensive findings (In response to our Executive Secretary's letter, first, what he referred to were comprehensive findings). This was mentioned in the letter, but my findings were very clearly preliminary findings, which is the reason for this second hearing,” she said.

Marcos stressed there are still unanswered questions and a significant amount of evidence and information from citizens that need to be reviewed.

“Marami pang mga tanong na nangangailangan ng sagot, at napakarami tayong mamamayan na nagpadala ng dokumento, impormasyon, at ebidensiya na pagkakataon sana ang hearing na ito para magpaliwanag ang ating mga Cabinet members sa taumbayan (There are still many questions that need answers, and many citizens have sent documents, information, and evidence. This hearing would have been an opportunity for our Cabinet members to explain themselves to the public),” she said.

“Nirerespeto ko ang doktrina ng executive privilege pero pakantandaan natin hindi ito pwedeng gamitin bilang blanket shield, pangkalahatang pantago, para ilagan ang tanong at umiwas sa paanyaya ng Senado (I respect the doctrine of executive privilege, but let us remember that it cannot be used as a blanket shield or cover to avoid the Senate’s questions and invitation),” she added.

Marcos emphasized that “hidden truths are unspoken lies.”

“Ang katotohanang tinatago ay kasinunggalingan din. At mukhang ganon ang nangyayari ngayon sa pagtatago ng katotohanan gamit ang executive privilege at sub judice, nagmimistulan tuloy may cover-up sa mga nangyayari (The truth that is being hidden is also a lie. And it seems that's what's happening now with the concealment of the truth using executive privilege and sub judice, it almost looks like there's a cover-up of what's happening),” she said.

Malacañang has maintained that Cabinet officials have sufficiently answered the queries raised during the first Senate hearing held by the panel.