Wednesday, 03 September 2008
Senator Antonio Trillanes IV filed a resolution today initiating appropriate legislative action against Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita’s participation in a recent meeting on bills on the Philippines’ archipelagic baselines. Senators Trillanes, Edgardo Angara, Rodolfo Biazon, Juan Ponce Enrile, and Aquilino Pimentel have authored five separate ‘baselines’ bills.
Ermita presided over the Technical Working Group meeting of the Senate Committees on Foreign Relations, Finance, and National Defense and Security. On August 14, 2008 in Malacañang,
Trillanes alleged that Ermita’s role as presiding officer of a Senate committee meeting to ensure that the position of the Executive Branch is adopted, is a clear violation of the constitutionally enshrined principle of separation of powers of the three branches of government. “Secretary Ermita’s actions effectively undermined the independence of the Senate as an institution,” he added.
Ermita, at the meeting, directed the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations to adopt and draft the preferred option of the Executive Branch.
A Technical Working Group of a standing Senate Committee normally prepares the committee report and recommendation to the Committee Chairman. The Committee on Foreign Relations chair is Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago.
Also in attendance were resource persons from the Philippine Coast Guard, Department of Foreign Affairs, National Mapping and Resource Information Agency, Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, and Department of Energy.
END
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FOURTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE REPUBLIC )
OF THE PHILIPPINES )
Second Regular Session )
S E N A T E
P.S. Res. No. 614
Introduced by Sen. Antonio “Sonny” F. Trillanes IV
RESOLUTION
DIRECTING THE SENATE COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE, TO INQUIRE, LOOK INTO AND INVESTIGATE IN AID OF LEGISLATION, THE UNCONSTITUTIONALITY, ILLEGALITY AND IMPROPRIETY OF HAVING EXECUTIVE SECRETARY EDUARDO ERMITA PRESIDE OVER A TECHNICAL WORKING GROUP (TWG) MEETING OF THE SENATE COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN RELATIONS TO TACKLE PENDING LEGISLATIVE MEASURES CONCERNING THE ARCHIPELAGIC BASELINE OF THE PHILIPPINES HELD LAST 14 AUGUST 2008, AT BONIFACIO HALL OF MALACANANG, MANILA; WITH THE END IN VIEW OF INITIATING APPROPRIATE LEGISLATIVE ACTION THERETO
WHEREAS, a technical working group (TWG) meeting of the Committee on Foreign Relations on Senate Bills 1467, 2144, 2181, 2215, and 2216 was held last Thursday, 14 August 2008, 2:00 p.m. at the Bonifacio Hall of Malacanang Palace (See notice of TWG hereto attached as “Annex A”);
WHEREAS, to the surprise of some twelve (12) members of the technical staff, representing the different offices of the senators, who attended the TWG meeting, it was Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita, ostensibly, in his capacity as the Chairman of the Commission on Maritime and Ocean Affairs, who actually presided over the said meeting;
WHEREAS, even according to the transcript of the said TWG meeting (See attached “Annex B”), it was, in fact, Executive Secretary Ermita who presided as chairman of the TWG meeting and directed the flow of the discussion from the start until it was adjourned. To quote:
Presiding Officer (Mr. Ermita): “I might mention at the outset that the purpose siyempre of our Technical Working Group is to come up with a report and a recommendation to the Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate, Senator Santiago, on the main features of these bills so that we will have a common understanding of the - - which of the bills can be adopted or what is the configuration and what are the contents of the consolidated bill.”
WHEREAS, Secretary Ermita, as presiding officer of the TWG meeting, blatantly undermined the independence of the Senate as an institution when he directed the committee secretariat and members of the TWG to draft the substitute bill that is congruent to the position of the Executive branch and even detailed the corresponding timeline for the whole legislative process. To quote:
1. Presiding Officer: “In the end, we will show you which option would, probably, fit that or rather the one that is preferred by the Executive branch through the study of CMOA and then how it relates to the features of the bills filed by the senators and of the Lower House.”
2. Presiding Officer: “So that is the reason why it’s more practical that we adopt Option 2.”
3. Presiding Officer: “So this is the first meeting. Next step, prepare the draft. After preparing the draft, submit the draft to a second meeting. After that, w will submit this to Senator Santiago who created our technical working group and then, of course, provide a copy to the Lower House – to the different members, that will be the job of the Office of Senator Santiago, then we shall await the call from Senator Santiago to a meeting and see whether there will be agreement on that draft that was agreed upon by all representatives. Hopefully, it should not take more than a month, or probably two to three weeks, we should be able to come up with an acceptable common position on the baselines and therefore that in three weeks’ time and not more than four weeks, we shall have a final bill to be submitted to the President for approval. Well, first, to the plenary, it will be submitted to the plenary for the debate and I’m sure if it’s already agreed upon by the proponents, then it should not be difficult passing through the different procedures in both Houses – first reading, second reading and third reading.”
WHEREAS, the fact that Executive Secretary Ermita, an alter ego of the President of the Republic of the Philippines, presided over the TWG meeting of a standing committee in the Senate constitutes undue intervention in the official work of Congress which is a clear violation of the constitutionally enshrined principle of separation of powers between executive and the legislative branch of the government;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, as it is hereby resolved to direct the Senate Committee of the whole, to inquire, look into and investigate in aid of legislation, the unconstitutionality, illegality and impropriety of having Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita preside over a Technical Working Group (TWG) meeting of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations to tackle pending legislative measures concerning the Archipelagic Baseline of the Philippines held last 14 august 2008, at Bonifacio Hall of Malacanang, Manila; with the end in view of initiating appropriate legislative action thereto.
Adopted.
Antonio “Sonny” F. Trillanes IV
Senator