Joker to defend Senate on EO 464 issue

Sen. Joker Arroyo will defend the Senate’s position questioning the constitutionality of Executive Order 464 before the Supreme Court on Tuesday. EO 464 requires officials of the executive department to secure permission from President Arroyo before appearing in any congressional inquiry. Sen. Arroyo said the order “if sustained will effectively castrate the Senate and transmogrify the senators into submissive eunuchs and reduce them to inutility." The Supreme Court set the hearing of the petition at 1 p.m. Tuesday to allow the parties involved to present their side on the issue. President Arroyo earlier said EO 464 would stay until the senators learn to go slow on investigating alleged anomalies in the government. Lawmakers, however, reminded Malacañang not to meddle on how the Senate would conduct its constitutional mandate. Tuesday’s hearing “is a life and death case" for the Senate “to prevent a testicular operation of the executive on the senators that would result in executive dictation and legislative abdication," Sen. Arroyo said. “If judicially ratified, EO 464 will result in a quasi-dictatorship," said Sen. Arroyo. “It is the mandate of the Senate to exercise its oversight functions in aid of legislation," Senate President Franklin Drilon said.