EO 464 ban now also covers confirmation of appointive officials

Arroyo on his way to a one-man rule.

From the Malaya:

So even the confirmation of appointive officials is now covered by the ban on appearing before congressional hearings without the permission of Gloria Arroyo?

Ian Fleming wrote in one of the early James Bond that once is happenstance, twice is coincidence, and thrice is enemy action.

Initially, Executive Order 464 covered appearances of Cabinet members, other high officials and ranking members of the Armed Forces and the National Police in inquiries in aid of legislation. A few days ago, the coverage was expanded to include budget hearings. Yesterday, the word from the Palace was that appointees would be covered by the gag order.

As Senate President Franklin Drilon said, Gloria is doing violence to the Constitution by these actions. We are tempted to say, "What did Drilon expect?" She rode to power on the back of an extra-constitutional action by a mob. That original sin has since led to sustained assaults on everything held sacred under the rule of law and of the Constitution. She raided the treasury to buy election support in 2004. When this was not enough to secure her victory, she rigged the results. When the "Hello Garci" tapes, which caught her talking about doctoring the tallies with an election commissioner, surfaced, she had her allies block the search for the truth at every turn. When an impeachment complaint was filed against her, the same well-compensated allies junked the complaint through technicalities.

Through all this naked exercise of power, we continued to entertain the possibility that the good side of Gloria’s nature would in time prevail.

Now, it appears nothing will stop her – not even the very real prospect of bringing the whole temple down on her and our heads – in her drive to keep herself in power.

We understand the demands of self-preservation. Gloria’s stay in power is precarious, with practically the whole nation wishing her exit. But there are limits to what she can do. The Constitution provides for checks and balances so as to prevent the concentration of powers on one person or one branch of government.

Gloria may temporarily strengthen her hand by doing violence to the Constitution. But she should remember that the Constitution she is trampling on is the very same document that stands in the way of her and the Jose Pidals in her life of being hoisted by the neck from the nearest Meralco post.

But we’re going in circles. We are assuming Gloria listens to reason, an assumption contradicted by her actions.

From Ducky Paredes:

Is Gloria finally going nuts? That’s the thought that comes to mind when we hear that she has expanded her Executive Order 464 to include budget and confirmation hearings. This effectively means that everyone under the executive department (which reports to Gloria Arroyo) is now effectively prohibited from attending any and all legislative hearings, without her express instruction of permission to attend.

Notes Senator Mar Roxas: "By invoking EO 464 in failing to attend the budget hearings, the national leadership has caused governance to stumble and fall. Coming at the heels of the tragedy at ULTRA, this move demonstrates a lack of sensitivity on the part of the executive branch. The budget hearings in the Senate are not driven by petty politics but by our own sober response to the call of the times for transparency, public accountability, and constructive political engagement.

"I urge the administration to reconsider this lamentable position. Our people expect government to be a unifying force in times of adversity. I hope that President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo will rescind Executive Order 464 as an act of faith in the Constitution and the Senate as an institution to which she once was a proud member of."

May tinatago ang Arroyo admin sa budget hearing by invoking EO 464. Probably yung pork barrel na gagamitin ng arroyo admin para suhulan ang mga local gov't officials para suportahan ang CHA CHA.

More from the tribune.

From Ernie Maceda:

Executive Order 464 has been invoked to prevent Cabinet members and other executive officials from attending budget hearings, a reversal of a previous policy exempting budget hearings from the ban. Subsequently, Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita confirmed the revised policy but justified it by saying Malacañang wants to wait for the Supreme Court decision on the case questioning the constitutionality of EO 464.

This decision of Malacañang not to allow executive officials to attend budget hearings clearly indicates that GMA wants another reenacted budget which will allow her to realign capital outlay and maintenance and other operating expenses anyway she wants it, making the reenacted budget one huge discretionary fund.

It is just as reprehensible that the ban will also apply to hearings of the Commission on Appointments. This further upsets the delicate principle of checks and balances and the separation of powers. This means that all appointees will be bypassed and will in effect be in an acting capacity.

For a President who has been proclaiming and insisting on a rule of law and following the Constitution, she is the worst violator of her pronouncements.

This latest caper of GMA to snub and disregard the Senate makes it doubly urgent for the Supreme Court to resolve the legality of EO 464. Failure to act on it was one of former Chief Justice Hilario Davide’s shortcomings. This will be a litmus test for new Chief Justice Artemio Panganiban. The Supreme Court must decide the case at the soonest possible time. It has been pending for more than three months.

From Ninez Cacho Olivares:

No more doubts about it. Gloria Arroyo is doing all she can, and more, to stonewall the Senate’s every move to search for the truth, upon which was what the bishops, in their pastoral statement, insisted must be done, through various constitutional paths, one of which is Congress.

Where she issued Executive Order (EO) 464, her infamous gag order on all her executive officers to prevent the truth of her lying, stealing and cheating from surfacing, justifying this as a means to stop congressional probes “in aid of destabilization,” she now withdraws her memo that allows her Cabinet officials to attend budget hearings and defend their budgets.

This is clearly in defiance of the constitutional order, but then again, Gloria has never been known to adhere to the Constitution, which is why the system has broken down completely.

Still, with Gloria banning her Cabinet officials from appearing before the Senate to defend their budgets, it has become much too clear that the issuance of EO 464 and her withdrawal of her memorandum 192 which allows her officials to attend budget hearings, were intended to prevent the truth from surfacing, thus killing the truth.

Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye and Local Government Undersecretary Marius Corpus invoked the gag order, refusing to heed the Senate summons, evidently, to evade being questioned on specific issues, such as Bunye’s role in the wiretapped tapes on poll-rigging, since it was Bunye who first disclosed the existence of the tapes, presenting two versions to the media, one of which was obviously Palace-manufactured, to cover up for Gloria’s crime. Corpus was also into evading questions on the Ultra stampede where he and his task force team absolved the police and the Pasig executives, as well as the government-owned Ultra Stadium of all blame.