SENATE Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. on Thursday asserted that former socioeconomic planning secretary Romulo Neri cannot impose any condition on the Senate for resuming his testimony on the ZTE-national broadband network (NBN) project.

Pimentel expressed misgivings over Neri’s proposal, put forward by his lawyer Antonio Bautista, that Neri is willing to come back to the Senate to complete his testimony but he should be allowed to do so in an executive session.

Neri had declared his willingness to resume his testimony after President Arroyo’s decision to revoke the Palace gag order under Executive Order (EO) 464 and despite the Senate’s rejection of a compromise drawn up by the Supreme Court (SC) to resolve the issue over his nonappearance at the hearings on the NBN-ZTE controversy.

“We refuse to acknowledge that any person being summoned by the Senate has any right to put up conditions for his appearance. We cannot agree to that,” Pimentel told reporters. “The only conditions that should bind the Senate are those ordained by the Constitution,” he added.

Pimentel pointed out that “an executive session will be a decision of the Senate, not of the person who is being called to testify.”

He explained that if a witness requests for an executive session with respect to any particular question raised during the Senate hearing, the senators will have to evaluate and decide whether the request qualifies for such privilege.

“Otherwise, it would look like we are giving blanket authority to anyone being summoned by the Senate to impose conditions for his testimony. That should not be the case,” he said.

Pimentel admitted the Senate cannot enforce its order to arrest Neri if he continues to ignore its summons because the temporary restraining order issued by the SC is deemed to be still in force and effect owing to the Senate’s rejection of the proposed compromise.

He said the majority of the senators strongly opposed the Court-brokered compromise because it would have the effect of diluting the investigative powers of the Senate. The senators decided in a caucus Wednesday night to just wait for the SC’s decision on the issue.

The proposal of the SC to allow Neri to testify at the Senate’s inquiry into the canceled NBN-ZTE project, but with the condition that the senators refrain from asking him three questions regarding his conversation with President Arroyo, was a “wise compromise” while awaiting the final decision of the Court on the matter.

Fr. Ranhilio Callangan Aquino, dean of the Graduate School of Law of San Beda College, in an interview on national television station NBN-4’s Boses Wednesday night, said the SC’s proposal “would have allowed the hearings to go on while we await the judgment of the SC on the three questions.”

However, the Senate outrightly rejected the proposal, saying this would diminish the powers of the Senate to call any witness or resource person to an inquiry, or to ask certain questions.

Aquino stressed that the SC decision was “necessary so the leaps and bounds of the Executive Order 464 will be defined clearly.”

He said it is also unfortunate that the lawyers of persons invited to Senate inquiries could only advise their clients but “can’t speak” for their clients.

“You are practically helpless [at the Senate hearings],” he said.

Arroyo announced the revocation of EO 464 effective Wednesday.

Neri agreed to resume his testimony before the Senate but would not answer questions regarding his conversations with the President after he told her about an alleged P200-million bribe offer by former elections chairman Benjamin Abalos Sr. for the approval of the NBN-ZTE project.

He said this was “privileged communication” with the President.

Neri also asked the Court to stop the Senate from arresting him for refusing earlier to testify again in the Senate.

The SC would have to decide whether the Senate has the right to arrest uncooperative witnesses and if the questions that Neri refused to answer were covered by executive privilege.

Despite the Senate’s rejection of the compromise agreement drawn up by the SC on the appearance by Neri, Sen. Pia Cayetano is confident that the Court would order Neri to appear before the committees investigating the anomalies surrounding the broadband network deal with ZTE Co. of China.

“I’m quite confident that the SC will ask Neri to appear before the Senate because the invocation of the right to executive privilege does not include the right not to appear. I’m quite certain Neri will appear,” she told reporters.

“Maybe what we can hope from the SC is a declaration of what is the scope of executive privilege without curtailing the powers of the Senate, which is guaranteed by the Constitution. I hope Neri will appear soon because laging nade-delay ang investigation and because he has very vital information [on the deal],” said Cayetano.

At the same time, the SC said it has no other option but to resolve the current controversy pertaining to the proper invocation of executive privilege based on the three questions that were asked to Neri by senators investigating the NBN-ZTE deal.

In an interview, SC spokesman Jose Midas Marquez said the decision of the majority of the senators to reject the Court’s compromise proposal might further delay the proceedings before the Senate.

Marquez said the Court could have come up with a more comprehensive parameters on invoking executive privilege if the Senate accepted the compromise proposal.

Under the compromise proposal, Neri will appear anew before the Senate investigation and will not be asked anymore the three questions where he already invoked executive privilege, but he can be asked by the Senators any other questions where he can still invoke executive privilege.

The senators may cite him in contempt for not answering the questions but cannot detain him as the questions would have to be elevated to the Court who will, in turn, decide whether executive privilege was properly invoked on the said questions.

“The Court can definitely decide on the issue based on the three questions, there is no question to that. But, we already foresee that  there will be subsequent inquiries into disputes on invocation of executive privilege so it would have been better if the Court was able to come up with a comprehensive decision based on, let’s say, 50 questions. That would have been enough. That is the opportunity we are missing,” Marquez said.

Marquez said the Court might be able to decide on whether Neri properly invoked executive privilege on the three questions a month after the parties submitted their respective memoranda.

But, Marquez admitted, such decision will not put an end to the issue on proper invocation of executive privilege as there is a possibility that Neri will invoke the same privilege when asked of other questions in future hearings.  (With J. San Juan and I. Abaño)

Former CBCP president: Senate probe into ZTE flawed

A FORMER president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) said on Thursday the bishops did not get along with the “growing clamor for [President Arroyo’s] resignation” because they feel that the Senate inquiry into alleged government kickbacks in the botched $329-national broadband network deal is flawed.

SENATE Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. on Thursday asserted that former socioeconomic planning secretary Romulo Neri cannot impose any condition on the Senate for resuming his testimony on the ZTE-national broadband network (NBN) project.

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