THE Senate yesterday questioned before the Supreme Court President Duterte’s order barring officials of the Executive Branch from appearing before the Blue Ribbon committee’s investigation on billions in contracts awarded last year by government to Pharmally Pharmaceuticals Corp. which had a paid-up capital of less than a million.
Backed by a Senate resolution, Senate President Vicente Sotto III, Senate President pro tempore Ralph Recto, majority leader Juan Miguel Zubiri, minority leader Franklin Drilon, and committee chair Richard Gordon asked the SC to void the order and issue a temporary restraining order and/or a status quo ante order that would compel Executive officials to attend the inquiry.
They said the order issued through Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea defies the 2006 SC ruling in Senate vs Ermita, which prohibited the Executive from issuing orders frustrating the powers of the Legislative branch to conduct inquiries in aid of legislation.
They said Duterte’s order “constitutes impermissible interference, if not obstruction, in the processes of another branch of government.”
Duterte has accused Gordon and other committee members conducting the probe on Pharmally for political mileage and not in aid of legislation.
Duterte also questioned the manner of questioning of Gordon and his colleagues and the prolonged inquiry on the issue.
The committee has held 14 hearings and has so far uncovered several alleged irregularities like overpriced and tampered face shields sold by Pharmally to the government and non-payment or under-payment of taxes by its officials.
A Chinese businessman appointed by Duterte as economic adviser in 2018 is suspected by senators to be the financier of Pharmally.
Duterte has repeatedly dismissed talks he is lawyering for Pharmally.
The senators said Duterte’s order has no basis as the SC has already ruled on the issue in the 2006 case regarding Executive Order 464 issued by then President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo also barring certain Executive officials from attending Senate inquiries.
They said “there has been no greater, more blatant disregard of the 2006 categorical ruling of the Supreme Court in recent memory” until Duterte’s order.
They also said the order violates the principle of separation of powers of branches of government.
“To allow the Executive to dictate how Congress should conduct legislative inquiries is no different from allowing it to tell the Honorable Court how the latter must conduct its deliberations,” they said.
They also said Duterte’s pronouncements against the Senate showed a clear intent to interfere, if not entirely obstruct, the hearings.
“In any event, the reasons proferred by the subject memorandum are unmeritorious, and are at best, a grave abuse of discretion.They do not justify a brazenly unconstitutional directive of the Executive to derail the Senate’s legislative processes,” the petitioners added.
Meanwhile, Sen. Risa Hontiveros said Duterte’s statement on Wednesday that Pharmally officials who did not pay taxes should be jailed only shows he “is shifting towards a damage control stance” apparently to prevent further damage to his administration and political capital.
She said the President is “feeling the heat” as the hearings have unearthed not only anomalies in the award of some P10 billion worth of contract to Pharmally by the Procurement Service of the Department of Budget and Management (PS-DBM), and the alleged involvement of former economic adviser Michael Yang, but also the non-payment of appropriate taxes by Pharmally officials, among others.
“He’s feeling the heat. His cooks are getting their fingers singed, not only the DOH and PS-DBM, but Pharmally itself, and even his former presidential economic adviser Michael Yang is not getting off the hook in the inquiries,” she told ANC TV in mixed Filipino and English.
Presidential spokesman Harry Roque dismissed Hontiveros statement on damage control as mere “political talk.”
He said the President has always been firm when it comes to going after those who violate the law. — With Raymond Africa and Jocelyn Montemayor
