The Supreme Court has firmly upheld its decision to protect Romulo Neri under his claim of executive privilege, following the appeal of the Senate for reconsideration last March. Nine out of fifteen justices voted for it, while only six were against it. For whatever's sake its invocation sought to hide from the public, executive privilege has become the newest and most effective alibi on the side of power trippers in the government.
Quoting from an article in inquirer.net, executive privilege is so defined as: "...the power of the President to withhold certain types of information from the courts, the Congress, and ultimately the public. The types of information include those which are of a nature that disclosure would subvert military or diplomatic objectives, or information about the identity of persons who furnish information of violations of law, or information about internal deliberations comprising the process by which government decisions are reached." Therefore, even if "internal deliberations" or "government decisions" equate to ugly forms of bribery, deceit, and mass corruption, such information may pass through the loophole of this privilege and remain undisclosed. Executive privilege then becomes tantamount to a potential safety net for criminals.
I wish to be fair to our Judiciary, for I have great respect for Chief Justice Reynato Puno -- but I can't help but question their credibility sometimes. The judicial body may be considered as the most powerful branch of the government, for it has the authority to override both the executive and legislative, and declare both functions unconsititutional if necessary. However, what bothers me about the current system is that judiciary's independence may be greatly compromised, given that each and every judge and justice is appointed by the President.
In the case of the ZTE deal, the transparency and accountability that the executive has bypassed could have been revived by the Supreme Court. The three questions that Romulo Neri has refused to answer would have shed more light on the role of the President, and such a refusal only seems to reflect her guilt. From where I stand, I cannot see how the silence can protect "internal deliberations", but I can see how disclosure can give away the truth -- which is a matter of public concern. At first, I trusted the discretion of the Supreme Court on this issue -- but now it is just disappointing to know how this move can become another groundbreaking path for even more back-end deals and anomalies in the government. Though executive privilege does maintain the constitutional doctrine of separation of powers, it has greatly undermined the principle of check and balance -- the very purpose for which powers have been delegated among the three different branches.
I actually can't say if I can blame Neri for keeping quiet under all sorts of pressure from the administration, while witnessing the fate that has befallen Lozada. Columnists however, have being pointing out the fact how Neri has been rewarded the post of Social Security System head, and Lozada is... I don't even know where or how he is. Maybe still under the support of the religious but surely still on guard for his and his family's safety. It is so ironic, and disturbing, that those who have gathered the courage to blow the whistle are the ones who have received the biggest blows to their lives.
Maybe I take back the complaint I posed against the legislative in a previous entry, for it may indeed be very difficult to make remedies against a spectacular power juggle by the executive. However, they may focus on other underlying issues that has led to the ZTE deal, like the procurement system or foreign loan policy. Yes, stopping the ZTE deal from pushing through is a major feat, but stopping such occurrence in the future is an even greater triumph. The current setup may be hard to battle, but the roots can be fixed, little by little.
Now the infamous Jocjoc Bolante has been subject to deportation by the US CA, possibly facing a warrant of arrest by the Senate -- and the administration shrugs. Executive privilege can be invoked anyway.
