Three days ago, the president had revoked the Executive Order 464, or known in the Philippines as Executive Previlege. This was made after an intensed call from the Catholic Bishops to abolish said Executive Order in the light of the ZTE Scandal faced today by the government. But what really is EO 464? What is its effect? Does it make a difference now that it was abolished by the president? Is this really the solution?
EO 464 is an executive order issued by the president in the exercise of her inherent powers to answer the problem of too much prosecution of government officials in the Senate or even in House of Representatives. EO 464 mandates all department heads and top officials of the executive branch to get first the permission of the president before they could appear before the congress during legsilative inquiries. Legislative Inquiries is the equivalent of Question hour in parliament where government officials are made to appear before the congress to be asked on questions regarding issues of national concerns. But legislative inquiries is not the powerful compared to the question hour, in the sense that the president has the prerogative to appear or not or to allow his or her top cabinet officials to attend such inquiries. The president has the inherent powers granted upon him/her by no less than the constitution of the Philippines. The president has what we call Executive Previlege. Executive Previlege is the previlege given to the president by the consitution, not to divulge any information regarding military secrets, national security issues, trade secrets and some agreements with other governments. This is accordingly to ensure that there will be no prejudice or derailment that will happen in the course of the conduct of government as it is seen to be for the good of the country.
Now, what is the effect of the abolition of the EO464? Actually, nothing. It is because even without the EO, the president can still prohibit her top government men from appearing before any legislative inquiries. But suppose the president will allow them, as what this revocation of EO means, still, it is not an assurance that the cabinet official who will appear in Senate for example will say everything he knows regarding government matters and answer all the questions that will be thrown to him or her by the congressmen. Again, he can always invoke Executive Previlege as the alter ego of the president, which means he can opt not to answer the question asked on him if he feels that it is covered with the executive previlege. Therefore, in a sense, nothing is changed.
So, what should be the best solution? Well, as Executive Previlege is a right granted to the president by the constitution, she can always waive such right. Meaning, she can direct all her cabinet officials not to raise executive previlege when asked by the legislators. It means that the president can always allow her cabinet officials to answer in the best of their knowledge everything that will be asked to them. This is the very best solution to stop all the questions in the minds of the people regarding the truth about the ZTE Controversy.
If the President is not hiding anything, then it is time for her to let all her cabinte officials who are inflicted in the controversy to go before the senate and face the legislative inquiry without any reservations whatsoever. The truth should come out.
EO 464 is an executive order issued by the president in the exercise of her inherent powers to answer the problem of too much prosecution of government officials in the Senate or even in House of Representatives. EO 464 mandates all department heads and top officials of the executive branch to get first the permission of the president before they could appear before the congress during legsilative inquiries. Legislative Inquiries is the equivalent of Question hour in parliament where government officials are made to appear before the congress to be asked on questions regarding issues of national concerns. But legislative inquiries is not the powerful compared to the question hour, in the sense that the president has the prerogative to appear or not or to allow his or her top cabinet officials to attend such inquiries. The president has the inherent powers granted upon him/her by no less than the constitution of the Philippines. The president has what we call Executive Previlege. Executive Previlege is the previlege given to the president by the consitution, not to divulge any information regarding military secrets, national security issues, trade secrets and some agreements with other governments. This is accordingly to ensure that there will be no prejudice or derailment that will happen in the course of the conduct of government as it is seen to be for the good of the country.
Now, what is the effect of the abolition of the EO464? Actually, nothing. It is because even without the EO, the president can still prohibit her top government men from appearing before any legislative inquiries. But suppose the president will allow them, as what this revocation of EO means, still, it is not an assurance that the cabinet official who will appear in Senate for example will say everything he knows regarding government matters and answer all the questions that will be thrown to him or her by the congressmen. Again, he can always invoke Executive Previlege as the alter ego of the president, which means he can opt not to answer the question asked on him if he feels that it is covered with the executive previlege. Therefore, in a sense, nothing is changed.
So, what should be the best solution? Well, as Executive Previlege is a right granted to the president by the constitution, she can always waive such right. Meaning, she can direct all her cabinet officials not to raise executive previlege when asked by the legislators. It means that the president can always allow her cabinet officials to answer in the best of their knowledge everything that will be asked to them. This is the very best solution to stop all the questions in the minds of the people regarding the truth about the ZTE Controversy.
If the President is not hiding anything, then it is time for her to let all her cabinte officials who are inflicted in the controversy to go before the senate and face the legislative inquiry without any reservations whatsoever. The truth should come out.
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