SC tells Senate to answer plea on Ong’s arrest

The Supreme Court on Tuesday required the Senate to answer the petition filed by Pharmally Pharmaceuticals Corporation executive Linconn Ong, who assailed its orders citing him in contempt, ordering his arrest and placing him under detention for allegedly testifying “falsely and evasively.”

This was in connection with his company’s multi-billion contract with the government for the purchase of COVID-19 medical supplies.

SC Public Information Office chief Brian Keith Hosaka said the order was confirmed by Chief Justice Alexander Gesmundo following the magistrates’ regular en banc session.

“The respondents in the petition filed by Linconn Ong were required by the Court to file their comment to the main petition and prayer for TRO (temporary restraining order),” Hosaka said.

The usual period given to respondents in a petition, according to Hosaka, is 10 days.

Ong named as respondent Senate President Vicente Sotto III, Blue Ribbon Committee Chairman Senator Richard Gordon, and the Senate sergeant-at-arms, retired Maj. Gen. Rene Samonte.

Ong filed his petition through lawyer Ferdinand Topacio, who earlier called the Blue Ribbon Committee a “kangaroo court.”

In his petition, Ong asked the Court to declare as null and void for being unconstitutional the implementation of Section 18 of the Senate Rules of Procedure Governing Inquiries in Aid of Legislation, adopted via Senate Resolution 5 on August 9, 2010, as amended by Senate Resolution No. 145, adopted by the Senate on February 6, 2016, insofar as it punishes as contempt the act of testifying falsely or evasively.

The petitioner also sought to declare as unconstitutional Section 6, Article 6 of the Rules of the Committee on Accountability of Public Officers and Investigation also known as the Blue Ribbon Committee, adopted on August 14, 2019, insofar as it punishes as contempt the act of testifying falsely or evasively. Full story on manilastandard.net.

As immediate relief, Ong is asking the Court to issue a status quo ante order, which is the order of things prior to the committee’s issuance of the contempt, arrest and detention order against him last September 10, 2021, or TRO and/or a writ of preliminary injunction to enjoin the enforcement of the same order.

Ong said the contempt order against him had no constitutional basis and violated his constitutional right to due process.

The petitioner said the contempt order issued by the committee as well as the punishment imposed against him could be considered as an encroachment of the power of the judiciary.

He argued that under Section 21, Article VI of the 1987 Constitution, where the power of Congress to conduct inquiries in aid of legislation emanates, mandates “the rights of persons appearing in or affected by such inquiries shall be respected.”

The petitioner added the assailed rules of the Blue Ribbon Committee which became the basis for contempt order against him and his subsequent arrest and detention should also be struck down for being vague.

He said the rules failed to specify the standards as to what constitutes “testifying falsely or evasively.”

Ong is currently detained at the Senate building in Pasay and has refused to further cooperate with the ongoing probe by the Senate.

Meanwhile, at least five former Health secretaries, the Philippine College of Physicians, and various medical groups are asking President Rodrigo Duterte to stop blocking the Senate’s investigation into alleged anomalies in the government’s purchase of COVID-19 supplies 

“I think you might call this the straw that broke the camel’s back,” former Health Secretary Esperanza Cabral said Tuesday. Cabral is one of the signatories of the statement that also includes ex-Health secretaries Manuel Dayrit, Enrique Ona, and Carmencita Reodica.

“In fact, over the last 19 months or so, health professionals and allied medical professionals have seen, with increasing dismay, the poor COVID response that our government has towards this pandemic.”

“It is going to be very significant because if it’s proven that our government officials have conspired with private individuals to waste the money of the government, that should instead be going to providing medicines for our patients, protective [equipment] for our health workers. This is a very sad state we are in, something that needs to be corrected.”

Cabral added: “We want the Senate probe to continue unfettered by orders of the president for government officials not to go there. We want to know exactly what happened.”

Gordon had said that the panel’s investigation stemmed from a dialogue with health workers who complained about the health benefits due them that were not yet or belatedly released.

He said public funds wasted on anomalous transactions of the government could have been used for the benefits of health workers who are in the frontlines in the battle against COVID-19.

The statement from health leaders and groups is the latest in a growing chorus of voices opposing Duterte’s recent memorandum barring his Cabinet secretaries from attending the Blue Ribbon probe.

Duterte earlier said he was not opposed to the investigation but disapproved of how the inquiries have interfered with the work of

Cabinet members required to attend, including those related to the pandemic response.