SENATOR Imee Marcos, the chairperson of the Senate committee on foreign relations, finds the reasons of Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin for the absence of executive officials at the hearing on April 3, 2025, on former President Rodrigo Duterte's arrest and the turnover to the International Criminal Court “insufficient.”
Sen. Marcos, in her letter to Sec. Bersamin’s formal notice of refusal to be present at the hearing, answered all his concerns.
“In the Letter, it is claimed that further participation by executive officials may no longer be necessary because they have ‘candidly provided all information’ elicited by the Committee during the last hearing and that the undersigned has already publicly relayed her ‘comprehensive findings thereon’. You likewise claimed that ‘all matters not covered by executive privilege have already been extensively discussed.’ Finally, you invoked the sub judice rule because there are four (4) petitions currently pending in the Supreme Court involving the arrest and surrender of Former President Rodrigo Roa Duterte,” her letter stated.
Marcos said the “findings” referred to by Sec. Bersamin, “while sufficiently backed by factual and legal bases, are nonetheless preliminary.”
She said the Committee would want the Cabinet officials to have a venue to “clarify issues and questions that surfaced last hearing” “in the interest of fairness and transparency.”
She also answered Sec. Bersamin’s invoking of “the sub judice rule” citing the cases of Reghis M. Romero II et al. vs. Senator Estrada, ‘Senate Committee on Labor, Employment and Human Resources Development', Standard Chartered Bank et al. vs. Senate Committee on Banks, Financial Institutions and Currencies', and In the Matter of the Petition for Issuance of Writ of Habeas Corpus of Camilo Sabio vs. Gordon'.
“…the Supreme Court held that on-going judicial proceedings do not preclude congressional hearings in aid of legislation. The power of legislative inquiry is an essential component of legislative power. The same cannot be made subordinate to a criminal or an administrative investigation' or to special civil actions pending before the Supreme Court’,” she stated.
She also cited the ruling of the Supreme Court in ‘Senate vs. Ermita', “where it was emphasized that executive officials are not exempt from the duty to disclose information by the mere fact of being executive officials…”
Thus, Marcos is hoping that Sec. Bersamin reconsiders his decision and allows “the invited Cabinet members to attend the scheduled hearing.”
Cabinet execs to skip Senate hearings on Duterte's arrest
Marcos’ letter comes after Sec. Bersamin submitted a letter stating that the participation of concerned Cabinet officials in future hearings related to the topic may no longer be necessary since they already “dutifully attended the same, sincerely answered all the questions to the best of their knowledge and candidly provided all information elicited by the Senate committee members.”
“We reiterate our position on the extent of executive privilege in these proceedings, which we detailed in our letter of 20 March 2025. We believe that all matters not covered by executive privilege have already been extensively discussed,” Bersamin said.
“Accordingly, further discussions on the matters in the agenda of the hearing may constitute violation of the sub judice rule, which could unduly influence the ongoing proceedings. In light of these considerations, we must respectfully decline the invitation to attend the hearing. Nevertheless, we remain available to extend our full cooperation through other appropriate channels, should there be any further clarifications required within the bounds of the law,” he added.
PBBM won’t stand in the Senate hearing
Palace Press Officer Undersecretary Claire Castro earlier assured that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. will not stand in the way of the Senate to look into the matter.
The Senate Committee on Foreign Relations launched on March 20 its investigation on the arrest of Duterte, based on the arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court.
Among the Cabinet officials who attended the proceedings were Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla, Interior and Local Secretary Jonvic Remulla, Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro, and National Security Adviser Eduardo Año.
Also present were Philippine National Police Chief General Rommel Marbil, Criminal Investigation and Detection Group Director Major General Nicholas Torre, and Philippine Center on Transnational Crime Executive Director Anthony Alcantara.
A week later, the committee released its preliminary report on the probe, noting the irregularities in Duterte’s arrest. CEA with reports from SNS
