Senate President Francis Escudero said yesterday that Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla and Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) chief Gen. Nicolas Torre are set to attend the next Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing even as he warned that forcing confrontations through executive privilege or Senate subpoenas could trigger a constitutional crisis between the executive and legislative branches of government.
“The two institutions are clashing. One institution refuses to follow the other because it believes it is right, that it is acting legally. And until the Supreme Court issues a decision, we’re stuck in suspended animation,” he said during a radio interview.
“That’s what you call a constitutional crisis. I don’t want us to reach that point,” added the senate chief.
He said that Senator Imee Marcos has specifically requested the appearance of Torre while Remulla, who answered most legal questions in earlier sessions, is expected to participate again.
He said ongoing Senate hearings must serve as a platform for healing and understanding rather than deepen political divisions.
“That can only happen if questions are answered without having to clash, without the executive branch resorting to executive privilege on one side, and the Senate resorting to subpoenas on the other,” the senate chief continued.
Escudero stressed that answers to difficult questions must be given in good faith to avoid institutional clashes.
He also cautioned against issuing subpoenas to top officials like the DILG or DND secretaries, saying it would be unrealistic to expect law enforcement to act on them.