Tolentino files reso amending rules for contempt in Senate inquiries

Individuals appearing as witnesses or resource persons in Senate investigations cannot be cited in contempt unless they are given the opportunity to refute the allegations against them.

Outgoing Senate Blue Ribbon Committee chairman Francis Tolentino filed proposed Senate Resolution 88, which seeks to amend Sections 16 and 18 of Resolution Number 5 or the Rules of Procedure Governing Inquiries in Aid of Legislation.

Tolentino announced at the Kapihan sa Manila Bay forum on Wednesday that he had officially filed the proposed amendments.

The resolution seeks to introduce the following provisions in the rules on investigations in aid of legislation:

-All persons under investigation/witnesses appearing in or whose rights are affected by such inquiry may submit a legal brief/memorandum summarizing his or her position relative to the subject matter of the inquiry within a non-extendible period of 15 calendar days from the adjournment of said inquiry. Upon the expiration of the said period, the committee shall come up with its report notwithstanding the absence of the said memorandum.

-No witness appearing before the committee shall be cited in contempt for testifying falsely or evasively without being given the opportunity to be heard. The chairman with the concurrence of at least one member of the committee, upon preliminary assessment based on pieces of evidence presented and submitted, be it documentary or testimonial, that the witness before is giving false or evasive testimony shall either: issue an oral order allowing and giving the witness during the hearing the immediate opportunity to explain for the record why he/she should not be cited in contempt or issue a written show cause order answerable within three days from its issuance why he/she should not be cited in contempt.

-The person cited in contempt may file a Motion for Reconsideration within five days from the day the contempt was ordered. The Motion for Reconsideration shall not exceed 15 pages and must clearly and succinctly contain the grounds upon which it is based.

-A majority of all the members of the committee shall be necessary to reverse or modify the aforesaid order of contempt  

Tolentino also wanted to limit the period of detention of the person cited in contempt until the termination of the legislative inquiry under which the said power is invoked.

He said the proposed amendments were consistent with the recent Supreme Court decision on the petition filed by the officials of Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corporation.

“Considering the broad definition of ‘giving false or evasive testimony,’ the witness must, at the very least, be given a chance to explain why his or her testimony is not false or evasive,” Tolentino wrote in PSR 889.

In November, the SC announced that it had nullified the contempt and arrest order issued by a Senate committee against former presidential economic adviser Michael Yang and Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corporation official Linconn Ong.

In September 2021, the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee cited Ong and Yang in contempt “for being evasive” when questioned about the alleged overpriced COVID-19 supplies.

Ong was released from jail in June 2022.

In his resolution, Tolentino also mentioned the SC ruling in the 2018 case of Balag vs. Senate of the Philippines, where the high court ruled that the period of detention under the Senate’s power of contempt would only last until the termination of the legislative inquiry under which the said power is invoked.

“To be consistent with the relevant Supreme Court rulings on the matter and so as not to repeat what happened in the two cases where the exercise of the contempt power of the Senate has been reviewed by the Supreme Court, it is high time for the Senate to amend relevant sections of Resolution No. 5,” he said.  — VBL, GMA Integrated News