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Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon slammed Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra for saying that President Rodrigo Duterte’s memo instructing Cabinet officials to snub Senate hearings on pandemic contracts is only a “protest” against how the hearings are conducted.
“In terms of them being a form of protest, my goodness, there can be other forms of protest,” Drilon, a former justice secretary, said in a Rappler Talk Newsmaker interview on Tuesday, October 12.
“We are political officers, Senator [Richard] Gordon is a reelectionist. They can campaign against him as a sign of protest but do not violate the Constitution as a way of protesting. Unacceptable,” he continued.
Last October 6, Guevarra said that while he did not want to comment on the constitutionality of Duterte’s order, he viewed it as a “protest” against the “manner” in which the Senate blue ribbon committee hearings had been conducted.
Drilon said that the Duterte government is free to file petitions with the Supreme Court questioning the way the Senate is conducting its inquiry into pandemic contracts.
But to issue directives that would impede congressional hearings is something else.
“You cannot set the limit as to whether or not we should stop the investigation. That is a prerogative of Congress. Whether or not there are still matters senators or congressmen would like to inquire into, you cannot stop them,” said Drilon.
Open to ‘compromise’ on details of hearings
But the Senate Minority Leader said he is personally open to minor compromises that would address Malacañang’s concerns about the time spent by Cabinet members at the hearings.
“I am willing to listen and make accommodations. Your suggestion that it be limited to a certain number of hours, that’s not impossible to do,” said Drilon.
The lawmaker said it would be Senate President Vicente Sotto III or Gordon, chairman of the Senate blue ribbon committee, who could relay the official stance of the upper chamber or the Senate panel, respectively, on what compromises can be reached.
So far, there have been 11 Senate hearings on the Duterte government’s pandemic supply contracts, mostly focused on the deals awarded to Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corporation, a firm linked to former Duterte adviser Michael Yang.
A firm executive claimed Yang helped finance the firm and served as its guarantor.
Drilon said there were “very evident” attempts to cover up Yang’s involvement in the deals.
The Senate blue ribbon committee is preparing a partial report but is determined to hold more hearings, this time about other suppliers who won contracts from the budget department’s procurement service.
In the same Rappler interview, Drilon twitted House lawmakers for “violating” inter-parliamentary courtesy by commenting on how senators are conducting the pandemic procurement inquiries. – Rappler.com
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