Senate ends 2009 by standing up to GMA’s martial law declaration

MANILA, Philippines – The Senate ended 2009 by standing up to President Arroyo’s declaration of martial law in Maguindanao following the Nov. 23 massacre of 57 people in the province.

“Through the challenges that our country confronted this year, the Senate has proven it is a bastion of democracy and the people’s rabid ally and defender, even as it continues to bring hope to our people in the midst of political and economic uncertainties,” said Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile in his yearend report.

Enrile said the nation experienced tough times in 2009.

“But we survived. We were never daunted by the crises that befell our nation. We faced them courageously and, by the grace of God, we have proven our resiliency as Filipinos,” he added, noting how the country reeled from recent typhoons.

Even though Enrile, Senators Edgardo Angara and Joker Arroyo defended the proclamation of martial law by saying that under the 1987 Constitution the President has limited powers, the Senate still issued Senate Resolution 1522.

Between deliberations on the 2010 budget and the joint session at the House of Representatives, the senators made sure that their voices were heard despite the overwhelming House majority supporting Mrs. Arroyo’s proclamation.

Sen. Arroyo explained that martial law under the 1987 Constitution was limited as compared to the powers abused by former President Ferdinand Marcos under the 1935 Constitution, marked by the suspension of civil liberties, unwarranted arrests and detention, suppression of the media, and the padlocking of Congress.

“Martial law under President Arroyo’s Proclamation 1959 gave the president no additional powers except for warrantless arrests,” Arroyo said in defense of the President.

Sen. Arroyo lamented that the central issue, namely the 57 who were massacred, was sidelined after the Maguindanao martial law was lifted.

“Except for expressions of sympathy, the ghastly murder of the 57 had been drowned out by the martial law issue,” he said.

Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. raised an issue over the discovery of ballot boxes and voters’ identification cards during the raids by the police and the military in the mansions owned by the Ampatuan clan.

He said the seizure of election paraphernalia bolstered reports of election fraud in the 2007 elections, and cited this as possible reason that compelled Mrs. Arroyo to impose martial law.

The opposition senator said it could have been a move to cover up the tracks of poll manipulation in the 2007 election where his son Koko lost to Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri for the 12th slot.

Zubiri has denied having anything to do with the alleged cheating in the last elections.

The resolution was signed by Senators Francis Pangilinan, Pimentel, Alan Peter Cayetano, Benigno Aquino III, Mar Roxas, Jamby Madrigal, Jinggoy Estrada, Rodolfo Biazon, Francis Escudero, Panfilo Lacson, Loren Legarda, Manuel Villar, Antonio Trillanes IV, Pia Cayetano, Gregorio Honasan, Miriam Defensor-Santiago, Richard Gordon and Zubiri.

The resolution expressed the sense of the Senate that the President’s declaration of martial law in the province of Maguindanao was contrary to the provisions of the 1987 Constitution.

The senators agreed that the proclamation of martial law can not be justified on the basis of a threatened or imminent danger of rebellion. Neither can it serve as a validation to assist the police in performing their official duties to investigate the Maguindanao massacre and to arrest the alleged perpetrators of the crime.

P200-M double insertion

Before the Christmas break last Dec. 17, Enrile said he had prepared the committee report on the ethics case against Villar.

He said he is now securing signatures of senators for a committee report. Enrile, however, did not reveal the report’s findings.

Senator Lacson said he was the second to sign the report after the Senate president. He also declined to discuss the report’s content and only said that for the document to be valid, it needed 12 signatures of senators, who could either favor or oppose the findings.

Earlier, 12 senators signed Resolution 1472 clearing Villar of alleged involvement in the C-5 road controversy.

Villar himself signed the resolution, along with Pimentel, the Cayetano siblings, Lito Lapid, Honasan, Arroyo, Legarda, Estrada, Panglinan and Ramon Revilla Jr.

Right across Villar’s signature were the words, “Bilang pagtatanggol sa aking pangalan (As a way to defend my name).”

The resolution “dismisses the complaint against Villar and clears him of alleged acts of disorderly behavior.”

Estrada has since issued a statement that he will withdraw his signature but he never formalized it on the Senate floor.

Throughout the year, the Senate Committee of the Whole heard the testimonies of several witnesses in the ethics case presented by Sen. Jamby Madrigal and her counsel.

Villar and the rest of the Senate minority refused to participate in the ethics hearing, saying that the accusations were made to derail his presidential bid.

NBN-ZTE report

After hearings that spanned almost three years, the Senate Blue Ribbon committee recommended last month to the Ombudsman that President Arroyo be investigated for possible violation of the Constitution in connection with the anomalous $329-million national broadband network (NBN) deal with Chinese telecommunications firm ZTE Corp.

The Blue Ribbon now led by Senator Gordon also urged the Ombudsman to file charges against First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo, former Commission on Elections chief Benjamin Abalos, and former House Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. for violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act for their involvement in the deal.

The Blue Ribbon committee report was signed by Gordon, Arroyo, Angara, Pimentel, and Honasan.

Gordon inherited the NBN probe from former Blue Ribbon chairman Sen. Alan Cayetano after the Senate reorganization following Villar’s ouster as Senate president in November 2008.

“The President has lots to answer for,” Gordon said. “The President was unable to crack the whip on her people.”

Gordon said Mrs. Arroyo should be probed for her failure to act on the allegations of corruption and bribery in connection with the NBN-ZTE deal.

He said the President should have intervened and called for an investigation when former National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) chief Romulo Neri told her in 2007 that he was offered a bribe to approve the project.

Neri testified that then Comelec chair Abalos offered a P200-million bribe to help facilitate the project. Abalos allegedly helped broker the NBN project with ZTE.

“In the middle of it all is a President who was unable to control and discipline her own men as they fight over their kickbacks. She kept her silence in the midst of the corruption – acquiescing and condoning the deed. The facts pointing to her may not be total, but the stink is perceived to have reached her office,” said the committee in the report’s executive summary.

Gordon said that the First Gentleman should also be probed for violating Sections 4 (a) and 5 of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, which prohibit private individuals from using their relationship with people in power to gain from business transactions.

The First Gentleman allegedly told Jose ‘Joey’ de Venecia III, head of Amsterdam Holdings Inc., to “back off” from the NBN project.

Aside from the First Couple, the committee also recommended the filing of charges against Abalos, former Speaker De Venecia and his son Joey, Department of Transportation and Communications Secretary Leandro Mendoza, DOTC Assistant Secretary Elmer Soneja, DOTC Assistant Secretary Lorenzo Formoso, Neri, and whistleblower Rodolfo Lozada Jr. for allegedly violating provisions of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.

Hayden Kho case

A political and showbiz circus of sorts hit the Senate last May when the Senate conducted an inquiry into the sex scandal involving Dr. Hayden Kho and actress Kartina Halili.

The Senate investigation stemmed from the privilege speech of Senator Revilla entitled “A Doctor’s Perversity” where he scored Kho for allegedly recording his sexual activities with girlfriends without their consent and posting the videos on the Internet.

VFA, other issues

In September, Santiago called for the abrogation of the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) by arguing that the VFA violates both constitutional and international law.

During the first quarter of the year, the Senate trained its sights on the alleged involvement of the First Gentleman in contract rigging in the country, citing a World Bank report.

Senator Santiago led the probe.

The World Bank (WB) not only indicted seven contractors for allegedly manipulating three biddings for road projects worth $33 million it had offered to finance, it also linked politicians and government officials to the manipulation.

Last November, the Senate approved the committee report wherein Santiago called for the filing of criminal charges before the Office of the Ombudsman against Public Works Secretary Hermogenes Ebdane Jr., Rodolfo Puno and the other members of the Road Board including Danilo Valero of the secretariat.

Santiago has recommended that the Motor Vehicles User’s Charge Act should either be amended or repealed, in order to provide for the deposit of road taxes with the National Treasury, and for the inclusion of its appropriations in the national budget in order to assure legislative oversight. –Christina Mendez (The Philippine Star)