MANILA, Philippines – Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago led other lawmakers in filing a manifestation to declare former Armed Forces chief Angelo Reyes and his lawyer in contempt for evading the congressional inquiry.
Santiago issued a manifestation pointing out the motion to inhibit by Reyes’ counsel Bonifacio Alentajan.
Santiago said Alentajan’s motion calling for four senators to inhibit from the hearing is unlawful.
She argued the motion is not allowed under the Senate Rules of Procedure governing inquiries in aid of legislation.
“In filing this motion, counsel merely manifests his gross ignorance of the law, sufficient to disqualify him from law practice in the Senate,” Santiago stated in the manifestation.
She said the motion made by Alentajan “is a foolish attempt to restrict the power to conduct inquiries in aid of legislation specifically granted by the Constitution.”
“Thus, the motion is unconstitutional,” she added.
On the manifestation to cite Reyes and Alentajan in contempt, the senators invoked Section 18 of the Senate Rules of Procedure in accusing Reyes of false testimony and evading answering significant questions during the hearing.
Reyes had been called to appear before the Blue Ribbon committee to testify on the plea bargaining agreement that allowed former military comptroller Carlos Garcia to plead guilty to a lesser offense and post bail.
Garcia has been accused of the capital offense of plunder before the Sandiganbayan.
During the hearing, Reyes refused to answer some of the questions thrown to him by the members of the Blue Ribbon committee, prompting the senators to decide to place the former defense chief in detention for contempt.
In the case of Alentajan, the senators argued the lawyer should be cited for contempt for filing his motion to inhibit, which they said was uncalled for.
“Counsel for a witness should conduct himself in a professional, ethical, and proper manner,” stated the manifestation made by Santiago to be signed by Senators Jinggoy Estrada, Francis Escudero and Antonio Trillanes IV.
Santiago, Estrada and Escudero have given their respective statements denying the motion of Alentajan to inhibit from the hearings.
Garcia, who repeatedly invoked his right against self-incrimination during the hearings, is also facing the threat of contempt from the senators.
Blue Ribbon committee chairman Sen. Teofisto Guingona III said Reyes would again be invited for tomorrow’s hearing.
Guingona said the manifestation of the four senators as well as the motion to cite Garcia in contempt would be taken up in a caucus of the committee members after tomorrow’s hearing.
‘Tyrannical’ Senate
Alentajan, for his part, said the move to cite him in contempt reflects the abuse of power on the part of the four senators.
“Through that (resolution), you will see how tyrannical they are. Don’t we have rights anymore?” Alentajan said. “Is it contemptuous to fight for your rights?”
Alentajan said he was merely asserting the right of Reyes to due process and equal protection of the law.
He said Santiago, Estrada, Trillanes and Escudero “have lost their cold neutrality” in denying his motion for them to inhibit in the hearings.
“If they are reasonable, they should inhibit themselves. They have said a lot about Reyes,” he said.
Alentajan though admitted he is not sure if Reyes would attend the Senate hearing on Monday.
“We will have to see. I have not received the invitation,” Alentajan said.
Garcia, on the other hand, caught the ire of several senators during last Thursday’s hearing when he repeatedly refused to answer the questions about the allegations made by his former subordinates, retired military budget officer Lt. Col. George Rabusa and Lt. Col. Ramon Antonio Lim.
Rabusa and Lim revealed before the committee the extent of corruption in the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and linked Garcia to the anomalies as the military comptroller.
Guingona, however, said the issue is not yet closed, hinting that more revelations are still to come in the next few days of the hearing.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) had placed Rabusa under the Witness Protection Program (WPP).
Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said the Senate would take Rabusa into protective custody for the meantime pending approval of his WPP application.
Rabusa has already revealed what he knows about corruption in the military while another witness, former state auditor Heidi Mendoza, has already begged off from testifying further.
At the conclusion of last Thursday’s hearing, Mendoza appealed to the Senate to spare her from having to go through yet another hearing.
Mendoza was supposed to be the center of the Senate hearing in order to shed light about her findings while she was still working for the Commission on Audit (COA).
She previously testified in the House of Representatives, detailing how millions in reimbursements from the United Nations to the AFP went missing.
While Mendoza appears to be out of tomorrow’s hearing, Guingona said the hearings are far from over.
Guingona said he expects to have the colleagues of Mendoza from the COA as resource persons in tomorrow’s hearing, which would focus on the commission.
He declined to identify the auditors and refused to comment on the possibility that the additional witnesses would corroborate the testimony given by Mendoza at the House of Representatives.
“These are new people in the area of the COA,” Guingona said. - With Alexis Romero, Sandy Araneta, Roel Pareño