Senate President Francis “Chiz” Escudero on Wednesday clarified that the contempt powers of the upper chamber are being utilized “sparingly” with “absolute discretion.”
Escudero, in an interview with reporters in Malacañang, emphasized that senators do not exercise their power to hold individuals in contempt “very lightly.”
“We use it sparingly in the Senate. You have to understand, you only see the orders of contempt that we sign, you don’t see the ones that we did not sign. You no longer see the ones that the warrants of arrest that we did not sign,” he said.
“You’ve only seen the ones issued by the Senate, which require the signature of the Senate President, but you did not see those that we did not issue, nor did the chairman, nor the ones that I did not sign. It is being used with absolute discretion and is not being used very lightly, and only in cases which are necessary,” he added.
Citing the Arnault ruling of the Supreme Court, Escudero explained that Congress can exercise its contempt powers without limitation.
“Based on the Arnault ruling of the Supreme Court, walang limit yun (that’s without limit) until he or she is released of contempt,” he pointed out.
“In the Senate, as you have seen too, usually we release on humanitarian grounds. We release them before we go on break or right after we go on break, and because no hearing is being conducted or we don’t expect a hearing soon,” he added.
The Senate Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations, and Gender Equality has repeatedly ordered its several witnesses and resources, including dismissed Bamban, Tarlac mayor Alice Guo, and her alleged sister, Sheila Guo, under contempt for evading questions during the chamber’s investigation on the reported illegal operations of the raided Philippine Offshore Gaming Operations (POGOs) in the country.