Press Release
October 25, 2007

ROXAS: SENATE WORK HAMPERED
BY CABINET NO-SHOW, NO-DOCS

"SUBJECTIVE" DISCLOSURE NOT GOOD FOR DEMOCRACY

Senator Mar Roxas sought the Senate's attention and action over the "subjective and capricious" participation of the executive branch in the Senate's inquiry on the the national government's deal with ZTE Corp. for a National Broadband Network (NBN).

He stressed that the Senate's probe into the controversial deal is in aid of legislation, to seek measures to remedy the flaws in the law that brought about the NBN controversy, and the non-appearance of invited Cabinet officials and their insistence to keep certain documents and information secret has hampered their work.

"We need to hammer out this remedial legislation, and certainly it is my view that it is the duty of the executive to aid the legislature so that we can, in fact, come out with good laws," he said.

"The full disclosure principle is at the heart of checks and balances that makes our democracy healthy. And without that, when that is subjectively applied, then we will be blinded and we will not be able to perform," he said.

In yesterday's meeting, Cabinet official who were invited did not attend for various reasons, which made Roxas comment that the "empty chairs-- [are] in stark contrast to the earlier hearings where even those who were not summoned, Cabinet members who were not even invited, were all here in a show of support, a show of force."

Roxas pointed out that with respect to this "subjective" disclosure and "capricious" participation, the Senate will have to decide on the following matters at the soonest possible time, as these are blocking the Senate from getting the facts and crafting the best laws:

1) In the Department of Transportation and Communications' insistence that the annexes of the ZTE supply contract be discussed only in executive session as these contain "proprietary" information;

2) In Socioeconomic Planning Sec. Augusto B. Santos' invocation of executive privilege over the minutes of meetings on the NBN Project by the National Economic Development Authority-Investments Coordinating Council (NEDA-ICC); and

3) In former Socioeconomic Planning Sec. Romulo Neri's invocation of executive privilege when asked about the rest of his conversation with the President where he disclosed that he told her about former Commission on Elections chairman Benjamin Abalos' alleged bribe offer of P200 million.

"How can we know if this was in fact properly undertaken, was properly priced, and whether in fact the interest of the country, of the tax payer was protected by those who entered into this contract? These are discussions relative to public interest," he said.

Roxas said the committee report of the joint committees on the NBN probe (Blue Ribbon, Trade and National Defense) should not only propose remedial legislation but also discuss how the executive branch subjectively applied the principle of full disclosure, "for whatever reason, tactical or otherwise."

"When the executive feels it is in their advantage to be present, they are here. When they feel it is not to their advantage, they are absent. And this subjective, perhaps capricious application of the principle of full disclosure is certainly not good for democracy, for the check-and-balance feature of our relationship as between the legislature and the executive," he said.

Roxas noted that remedial legislation could come in to fortify the Government Procurement Reform Act (GPRA) and the Official Development Assistance (ODA) Act in the case of purchases subject to executive agreements, especially where there is no bidding and which are not subject to legislative oversight.

The senator already filed Senate Bill No. 1793 amending the GPRA to make sure that the principle of competitive bidding or price challenge is upheld even in procurement in relation to treaties and executive agreements with other countries. Senate Bill No. 1794 meanwhile amends the ODA law to subject ODA projects which did not go through bidding or any form of price challenge to the Senate's ratification.

Roxas also filed Senate Bill No. 109, the proposed Free Information Act, to guarantee the people's Constitutional right to information in matters of public concern.

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