Category: Politics

Isang matalinong ginoo sa Europa na nangangalang Edmund Burke ang nagsabi na “All that is needed for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” Sa Tagalog, “Ang kailangan lang ng demonyo na manalo ay ang mga taong mabuti na magsawalang kibo.”

Namamayagpag ngayon si Gloria Arroyo dahil marami sa mga taong akala natin mabuti at nagsasawalangkibo.

Invokes SC on lack of Congress rules

by Jocelyn Montemayor

Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita yesterday said Cabinet members would invoke the Supreme Court ruling requiring the publication of rules of procedures before appearing in any of the congressional inquiries particularly in the Senate.

Ermita, in a press briefing at the Aplaya Resort in Calatagan in Batangas, said the Supreme Court, voting 10-5, last Friday ruled that Section 21 of Article VI of the Constitution requires the publication of the ground rules or rules of procedures that would be observed in the conduct of inquiries.

This part of Associate Justice Antonio Carpio’s dissenting opinion is the whole point of the issue whether Romulo Neri’s invocation of executive privilege upholds or hampers the search for truth and rule of law:

“Executive privilege must be exercised by the President in pursuance of official powers and functions. Executive privilege cannot be invoked to hide a crime because the President is neither empowered nor tasked to conceal a crime. On the contrary, the President has the constitutional duty to enforce criminal laws and cause the prosecution of crimes.