THE Senate will not take sitting down any breach in its rules, especially when the integrity and reputation of the chamber is concerned, Senate ethics and privileges committee chairperson Sen. Nancy Binay yesterday said following a supposed leak of the senators’ closed-door discussions on the proposed P5.768 trillion national budget for 2024.
Binay said she will convene the panel and investigate how an online news agency was able to get details on the issues that were discussed during the caucus held last Monday.
“In order to gather additional information necessary to complete its review, the Committee on Ethics and Privileges will convene its members to conduct a probe on all matters relating to the conduct, rights, privileges, safety, dignity, integrity and reputation of the Senate and its members pursuant to Rule X, Section 13 (16),” Binay said in a statement.
Members of the Senate ethics committee include Senators Raffy Tulfo, JV Ejercito, Mark Villar, Ronald dela Rosa, Francis Escudero and Risa Hontiveros. Ex-officio members are Senators Loren Legarda, Joel Villanueva and Aquilino Pimentel III.
Binay stressed that any breach of the Senate Rules will be dealt with accordingly, citing Section 128 of the Rules of the Senate which emphasizes that “the President, as well as the Senators and the officials and employees of the Senate shall absolutely refrain from divulging any of the confidential matter taken up by the Senate, and all proceedings which might have taken place” during closed-door meetings.
Aside from the senators, only the Senate Secretary, the Sergeant-at-Arms, and authorized employees are allowed to attend executive sessions or meetings.
Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri on Tuesday directed Binay’s committee to formally investigate if there was a violation of the confidentiality rules of the Senate after an online news website posted two articles naming senators supposedly for and against the approval of the P500 million and P150 confidential funds requested by the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and the Department of Education (DepEd), both headed by Vice President Sara Duterte.
Zubiri gave the order after Sen. Jinggoy Estrada manifested in plenary that there was a leak of information in their caucus, with reference to the content of the online articles.
Estrada was named in the online article as allegedly one of eight senators who want to grant the OVP’s confidential fund request.
Escudero, in interpellating Estrada, said the online article should be considered a “gossip” but, nonetheless, he said an investigation should be conducted by the Senate ethics panel to find out if the alleged leakage is true.
Binay she would update the public on the findings of her panel once its investigation is completed.
“In order to comply with Rule XLVII, Section 128 regarding confidentiality, out of fairness to all respondents, and to assure the integrity of its work, the Committee will refrain from making further public statements on this matter pending completion of its initial review,” she said.
Hearings of the Senate ethics panel are not open to the public.
