Press Release
October 26, 2007

Transcript of Senator Roxas' press briefing with Dean Pacifico Agabin
and Atty. Jose Anselmo Cadiz

On the filing of a petition before the Supreme Court for disclosure of NBN documents:

MAR: Good morning. Ngayong umaga, tayo po ay naghain ng petisyon sa Korte Suprema, na pinapawalang-bisa itong executive privilege na ginamit ng NEDA at saka ng Executive Secretary sa pagtatanggi sa subpoena ng Senado dito sa mga dokumento ng NEDA. Sang-ayon sa petisyon na hinanda ng mga dalubhasang abugado--sina Dean Pacifico Agabin (ng Lyceum College of Law) at Atty Joel Cadiz, dating pangulo ng Integrated Bar of the Philippines.

Ang petisyon namin ay nagsasabi na habang mayroon ngang executive privilege, hindi sakop nito ang mga datos ng NEDA dahilan sa ito po ay impormasyon na maaaring may koneksyon sa panunuhol na na-report dito sa Senado. Hindi rin sakop nito ang batayan na sinabi ng Supreme Court na national security, o kaya'y diplomatic relations, o kaya police or military operations bilang batayan sa paggamit ng executive privilege.

Sa aking palagay, mahalagang-mahalaga na malaman natin ang impormasyon na ito, para: una, malaman kung na-proteksyonan nga ang interes ng bansa natin dito sa transaksyon na ito; pangalawa, ano ang konsiderasyon o batayan na ginamit sa pag-apruba nitong kontrata na ito, at; pangatlo, para malaman natin kung anong mga bahagi ng ODA law o kaya ng Procurement Law, para itong loophole ng paggastos ng pera ni Juan dela Cruz na walang bidding ay maaaring masarhan.

Will this case be the first of a series of challenges?

MAR: As you know, I'm the one who requested that this information be made available during the hearings. We think that the NEDA documents will clearly reveal the process flow, so that we can amend the legislation properly. This is the one area where the issue has been joined. There was a subpoena, there was a rejection invoking executive privilege, and so now we go to the Supreme Court.

With respect to Secretary Neri, with respect to other documents, it has not yet ripened to that stage, although I expect that in the coming weeks, these will likewise ripen and will likewise be brought to the Supreme Court. When, in fact, the legislature requests information from the executive--which is, by the way, duty bound to help the legislature craft good laws--and if this request is rejected by the executive, then at the end of the day it will be the Supreme Court that will decide on these matters.

What are the premises of the case?

Agabin: Ang posisyon ni Senator ay kino-concede naman that the President enjoys executive privilege in certain matters. Kaya lang, in this particular instance, hindi applicable ang privilege kasi, unang una ay talagang kailangan ang information from NEDA and from Secretary Neri upang ma-consider very well yung pending bills na ni-file ni Senator Mar at ni Senator Miriam Santiago. Pangalawa, nung unang hearings ay mayroon nang nadiskubre ang Senado na evidence ng katiwalian eh, doon sa testimony mismo ni Mr. Neri at ni Mr. Joey de Venecia III, kaya ang sinasabi po namin ay yung executive privilage ay hindi naman puwedeng magamit upang itago ang mga katiwalian ng gobyerno.

Nung tiyempo ni President Richard Nixon (sa US) ay sinu-subpoena yung mga conversations ng Watergate Tapes. Iyon din ang sinabi ni President Nixon, na ayokong i-disclose ang conversations namin because that is covered by executive privilege. Dinala sa US Supreme Court ang kaso, ang sabi ng US Supreme Court, totoo na mayroong executive privilege ang Presidente, pero sa ganitong partikular na kaso, kailangan na case-to-case basis na ititimbang ng husgado kung ang mas mabigat na interes ay iyong sa Presidente o sa Kongreso.

Sabi ng US Supreme Court, pagtimbang nila ay nalaman nilang yung information na iyan ay kailangang kailangan ng husgado eh in the interest of justice. At sabi ng US Supreme Court, hindi puwedeng gagamitin ang executive privilege upang gamiting pantakip sa mga criminal activities sa Watergate.

Do you see the documents containing anomalies?

Agabin: Noong unang hearings na kinonduct ng Senado, noong unang nag-testify si Mr. Neri at si Mr. Joey de Venecia, mayroon nang lumabas na ebidensiya ng katiwalian. According to the witnesses ay mayroong attempted bribery.

MAR: Hindi namin sinasabi na doon sa dokumentong iyon ang ebidensiya ng katiwalian. It is just that sa maaaring katiwalian ay hindi maaaring gamit na pantakip ang executive privilege diyan sa maaaring katiwalian na iyan. It is not necessary that it is contained in these documents.

The discussions in NEDA will reveal the considerations, the pluses, the minuses, the presentations, the advocates, the opponents, the entire discussion leading to the approval of this contract. So given that there was this allegation of bribery or attempted bribery, then we might be able to see from the documents whether the course of the deliberations, in fact, changed in the time frame that these deliberations ensured.

But that is only one part of our reasoning. The other part is because we also want to know how we can amend the legislation to, in fact, close the loopholes that allow for executive agreements that bypass Congress, that bypass bidding, that bypass the normal procurement process that is in place. If we buy one paperclip, if we buy one bond paper, napaka-istrikto ng proseso sa bidding. Ito, $330 million, ni-negotiate ito sa abroad, walang terms of reference na nagmula sa atin, halos walang nakaalam niyan dito sa atin, nagkaroon na lang ng pirmahan doon, nawala pa itong kontrata na ito, nakita muli at halos napaka-ma-kontrobersiya ng kontratang ito. Without any kind of public scrutiny. That's why we want to close the loopholes that allowed this to happen.

On the degree of cooperation of the executive with the Senate

MAR: Sa aking palagay, napaka-subjective--malapit na sa capricious--'yung paggamit or pag-comply ng executive branch sa konsepto ng transparency. Nakita noong ilang hearing na, kung sa palagay nila'y makakatulong sa kanila, nandito sila lahat, kahit 'yung mga hindi imbitado. Full force. Kahapon naman, walang dumalo sa kadahilanang na-kansela na raw itong kontrata na ito. They don't get the point. It is not whether this contract is cancelled or not, it is, what was the process, what was the decision-making process that led us to this, that we need to correct, that we need to amend the law. And that's why we are doing this.

What other documents will be sought from the executive?

MAR: Marami pa tayong ibang dokumento na hinihingi, pero ito lamang ang dumating na sa hantungan na maaari nang dalhin sa Supreme Court. The others kasi, halimbawa, 'yung invocation ni Secretary Neri ng executive privilege, hindi pa nag-mature, hindi pa nag-ripen to a matter that could be brought to the Supreme Court. Yung annexes ng kontrata mismo, na hanggang ngayon ay sinasabing confidential and ought to be covered under executive session, iyan pa ay hindi dumating sa hantungan na dadalhin na sa Supreme Court. Ito, nagkaroon na ng subpoena, nagkaroon na ng pagtanggi, and so therefore joined na ang issue, puwede nang dalhin sa Supreme Court.

Do these documents perhaps relate to national security?

MAR: I don't believe so. In a previous ruling, the Supreme Court said that the proper application of executive privilege are if it has national security implications, diplomatic relations implications, or if military and/or police operations will be compromised. Clearly, none of that is in these NEDA minutes.

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