Press Release
August 10, 2009

MIRIAM TO GRILL CABINET OFFICIALS ON INFOMERCIALS IN SENATE HEARING

Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago, chair of the Senate economic affairs committee, today said she has set the public hearing on the controversial infomercials of cabinet officials this Friday, 14 August 2009.

Santiago said she will issue invitations to the concerned cabinet members to appear in Friday's hearing.

"If they do not appear on Friday, I will issue a subpoena to compel them to appear before the Senate," she said.

In a Resolution she filed today, Santiago cited the following cabinet members and other high-ranking government officials who appeared in government-funded infomercials:

  • Vice-President Noli de Castro

  • Interior and Local Government Secretary Ronaldo Puno

  • Health Secretary Francisco Duque III

  • Finance Secretary Margarito Teves

  • Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro

  • Public Works and Highway Secretary Hermogenes Ebdane

  • Education Secretary Jesli Lapus

  • Agrarian Reform Secretary Nasser Pangandaman

  • Philippine Amusements and Gaming Corporation (Pagcor) Chair Ephraim Genuino

  • Technical Education and Skills Development Authority Chair (Tesda) Augusto Syjuco

  • Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) Chair Bayani Fernando

  • Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay

The feisty senator said she will ask these cabinet officials to explain the legal basis for the use of public funds for advertising themselves in the infomercials.

Santiago said she will also invite the finance officer and the Commission on Audit (COA) resident auditor of each department to shed light on the sources of funding of the infomercials.

She said the infomercials are being used to campaign early, in violation of the Constitution and election laws.

"Unless a person is blind, deaf, or dumb, it is crystal clear that the alleged infomercials of cabinet members are intended to camouflage the violation of the campaign ban, for the simple reason that these cabinet members engage only in such infomercials in the year prior to election year and at no other time, and for no other reason than personal political publicity," she said.

"By using public funds, these government officials have the financial mechanism to campaign ahead of others," she added.

Santiago had earlier filed a petition with the Supreme Court (G.R. No. 184044, Miriam Defensor Santiago v. Comelec), seeking an injunction against some of her fellow senators from conducting a premature campaign in the guise of endorsing certain commercial products.

"If I want to enforce the campaign ban against my own colleagues in the Senate, with even more reason I should seek the enforcement of the ban against cabinet officials who are engaged in premature campaign through the infomercials," Santiago said.

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