*Palace should now issue Senate visas to Cabinet men*

Malacañang was told to heed not just in words but in deeds Supreme Courts decision junking Executive Order 464 for being unconstitutional.

The Palace should now lift its travel ban to the Senate, he said.

However, the Executive branchs respect to the High Court opinion, he said, will be tested when the Senate invites a Cabinet member to appear before it.

Recto said when such Senate summon is issued, Malacañang should issue the Senate visa to the official concerned.

As a result of the Supreme Court ruling, a Cabinet official can now appear before the Senate without having to act like a schoolboy asking for a signed permission slip from his parents before he can go to an excursion.

Recto said the scrapping of EO 464 thwarted moves by the executive branch to impose the capital punishment on the Senaate or incapacitate it.

But what has been made clear is that a constitutional branch cant be exterminated by a mere executive fiat, he said.

Recto attributed the Senates victory to the masterly handling of the case by Joker Arroyo. The latter personally argued the Senates position during an en banc session of the Supreme Court.

When it comes to court appearance, Joker showed all the Queens men who was king, he said, referring to battery of government lawyers who faced off with Arroyo in the High Court.