Santiago gets even, snubs Senate sessions

By Macon Ramos-Araneta | Posted on September 18, 2012 |

But she will be at CA hearing to block Roxas’ confirmation'

Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago began a boycott of the Senate sessions Monday to register her displeasure at her colleagues, who snubbed a hearing she called Friday to investigate the controversies surrounding resigned Interior undersecretary Rico Puno, a close associate of President Benigno Aquino III.
Santiago, a member of the Commission on Appointments, had also threatened to block the confirmation of Cabinet members who stayed away from the hearing, including incoming Interior and Local Government Secretary Manuel Roxas II, triggering a response from the President Monday.
“That is up to her. But I hope there will be due process where there are rules and regulations that have to be followed as well by members of the legislative branch,” Mr. Aquino said in an interview in Lucena City.
He said Santiago, a member of the powerful Commission on Appointments, should have a basis for using her veto on Roxas, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima and Environment Secretary Ramon Paje.
Mr. Aquino insisted that the Cabinet officials did not snub the hearing but merely wanted to be informed of the scope of questions they would have to answer.
“It is not right [to say] that we did not cooperate. I think the record will show that we have always cooperated (with the legislative branch),” Mr. Aquino said.
“All that we are saying is that there is a provision under Article VI of the Constitution, Section 22, that if you call the alter ego of the President, the Executive branch has the right to know what questions will be asked so that are officials come prepared instead of saying ‘I don’t know’ when they are asked as resource persons,” the President said.
He also expressed confidence that Roxas would be able to hurdle the confirmation hearings despite Santiago’s threat to invoke Section 20 of the commission’s rules that allows any member to effectively veto a nominee.
In a statement issued at noon, Santiago said she would skip the remaining three days for the week’s session before Congress goes on recess on Sept. 22. When the session started at 3 p.m., Santiago was a no-show.
But she said she would check to see if a confirmation hearing was scheduled Wednesday so she could attend the session to block Roxas’ confirmation.
“If a Cabinet member who snubs my hearing is presented for confirmation this Wednesday, I will attend the confirmation hearing to cast a veto, to fulfill my promise,” Santiago said.
On Monday, Senate Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III said Roxas was scheduled to appear before the commission Wednesday at 10:30 a.m., and acknowledged that they could do nothing about Santiago’s veto.
“If she invokes Section 20, which is the prerogative of any CA member, then let the cards fall where they will,” he said.
“If the government function is disrupted in the Department of Interior and Local Government, then let it be faulted to whoever is responsible.”
Sotto also denied he snubbed Santiago’s hearing and noted that it went ahead despite questions about proper jurisdiction because there was a quorum, even with only two senators present. Minority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano and Senator Aquilino Pimentel III were the only senators who attended Friday’s hearing.
Sotto also shrugged off Santiago’s boycott, saying most sessions did not have 100 percent attendance.
“The absence of one or two is very common. What is important is that a senator attends to the committee job. We are tied to the committee work,” he said.
Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile earlier said he would try to speak to Santiago about her veto plan.
“I will talk to her. Well, if she’s ready to talk to me, I am always ready to talk to any member of the Senate,” he said.
Enrile also said there was no plan among the senators to boycott Friday’s hearing.
“It’s simply that there were conflicts of schedule,” he said, adding that if Santiago wished to boycott the Senate sessions, that was her prerogative.
“We are independent republics,” Enrile said.
Senator Franklin Drilon, on the other hand, dismissed Santiago’s threat, saying the President could simply issue an interim appointment to Roxas once Congress is in recess.
“And Secretary Roxas can immediately do his job at the DILG after the interim appointment,” he said. (END)