MINORITY IS DEFENDING THE PROCESS, NOT VILLAR - PIMENTEL

Minority Leader Aquilino Q. Pimentel, Jr. (PDP-Laban) today said the minority senators were mainly concerned that the investigation rules are in conformity with the basic rules of due process when they filed a petition with the Supreme Court seeking to stop the Senate committee of the whole from proceeding with the hearings on the complaint against Sen. Manuel Villar.

Pimentel belied the accusation of Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile that the petition is a dilatory tactic employed by the minority to prevent the probe on Villar.

He also emphasized he has nothing personal against the Senate president by persisting in seeing to it that the investigation rules be amended to ensure fairness and impartiality of the process.

"But it seems Senate President Enrile does not want us to question the procedures even if this means putting the right of every senator in jeopardy," Pimentel remarked.

"We are not defending Villar at this point but the process of the investigation that will lead to a decision to pronounce him either innocent or guilty."

He reminded Enrile that he had challenged the minority to bring the case to the Supreme Court which is the last recourse available to them to rectify what they perceived to be grievous flaws in the rules and procedures arbitrarily adopted by the majority.

That is why, according to Pimentel, he could not understand the very hostile reaction from Enrile since they are expected to exercise and respect their rights as members of a free institution. He said he is not trying to pick up a personal fight with the Senate president.

He said the minority have decided to discontinue participating in the proceedings of the committee of the whole after seeing that their attempt to present their side and their suggestions on the rules was ignored by the majority.

"We decided to bring our case to the Supreme Court because we want to see that the rules are fair and clear," the minority leader said.

Pimentel said they expect the Supreme Court to act on their petition as speedily as possible.

In their 26-page petition with the high tribunal, the six minority senators - Pimentel, Villar, Joker Arroyo, Alan Peter Cayetano, Francis Pangilinan and Pia Cayetano claimed that the Senate committee of the whole committed grave abuse of discretion on the following grounds:

First, the committee of the whole assumed jurisdiction of the complaint against Villar separate from the jurisdiction of the committee on ethics and privileges. This violates Villar's right to equal protection under the Constitution as there is one rule for him and another rule for the other senators who are subjects of pending complaints with the ethics committee.

Second, the committee adopted the quorum requirement of two members from the rules of the ethics committee for the hearing of the complaint against Villar. This was done when the Senate committee of the whole adopted the rules of ethics committee on quorum without any modification that should have been made to conform to the fact that the committee of the whole is composed of 24 senators. This is in violation of Villar's constitutional right to due process and of the constitutional mandate requiring a majority quorum of l3 senators for the committee of the whole to do business.

Third, the committee of the whole refused to publish the rules of the committee notwithstanding that based on the allegations in the complaint against Villar, his rights and those of the rights of witnesses who may be called to said hearings may be prejudiced. This is likewise in violation of the due process clause.

The minority senators argued that the authority of the committee of the whole to determine its internal rules does not give unbridled license to the committee to ignore the basic tenets on due process and equal protection under the Constitution. They said that neither can the committee in such cavalier fashion set aside the quorum requirement of l3 senators under Article VI, section l6 (2) of the Constitution for the committee to validly transact business.

"No senator can be deprived of his constitutional rights under the Bill of Rights - to be free from despots and whimsical actions that might have been appropriate to the lynch mobs of the Wild West era of the United States but no longer excusable under the laws of a civilized democratic government such as the Republic of the Philippines," they said.

"And yet, the rules adopted by the majority of the Senate committee of the whole clearly show utter disregard of such rules in favor of the hanging rope of a lynch mob."