“Guin-gona is just showing again his penchant for making conclusions even before ending his committee’s inquiries. Last March, he made a partial report on the unfinished blue-ribbon’s inquiry into the alleged corruption in the military and the plea bargaining agreement between state prosecutors... I sure wish they had shown the same temper at the previous inquiry into the alleged involvement of Local Government Undersecretary Rico Puno in the jueteng scandal.”
By: Efren Danao
Why must the Senate bluer-ibbon committee continue its probe into the purchase of choppers by the Philippine National Police (PNP) when it has already reached its own conclusions?
Yesterday, Tuesday, the committee headed by Sen. Teofisto “TG” Guingona 3rd held its fifth public hearing on the purchase of used helicopters passed off as new. Yet, as early as last month, Guingona and other committee members had already declared their “findings” on the transaction that took place in 2009, during the Arroyo administration.
Guingona and Sen. Franklin Drilon had already concluded that the choppers were really owned by Jose Miguel Arroyo, the spouse of the former president. They also said that the choppers were evidently overpriced with the connivance of key police officials.
Sure, the committee invited the former bookkeeper of Rep. Ignacio Arroyo, Ms. Rowena del Rosario, to testify about the transaction. Was this meant to give her and the Arroyos a fair hearing? Not at all because when Del Rosario gave testimony that did not jibe with the committee’s conclusion that Jose Miguel Arroyo was the owner, the panel immediately held her in contempt.
The panel also invited later the Arroyo brothers but they did not appear, claiming they were too ill to do so. I don’t think their non-appearance made any difference to Guingona and company. After all, they had already made their conclusions. Nothing that the brothers or the policemen would say in the hearings could change their belief.
The PNP has already filed charges before the Ombudsman against those suspected of involvement in the purchase of the choppers, including the former First Gentleman and former police officers, some of whom had also been invited to the Tuesday hearing. Drilon described the filing as a “hasty” act meant to give police officials who would be invited to the Senate probe an excuse to invoke the right against self-incrimination. As the deadline for this column is Monday, I can’t say anything on what might have transpired in the Tuesday hearing.
Justice delayed – for publicity?
Perhaps, the conclusions of Guingona and Drilon are correct. Perhaps, the transaction is an added proof that venalities were committed by the previous administration. But this not the whole point of this column. My point is, why devote more time, money and effort to an inquiry where the committee has already made conclusions? The two senators have bundles of papers on the chopper purchase in their possession. Why don’t they just give these and their recommendations to the Ombudsman to speed up the judicial process?
On second thought, Guin-gona is just showing again his penchant for making conclusions even before ending his committee’s inquiries. Last March, he made a partial report on the unfinished blue-ribbon’s inquiry into the alleged corruption in the military and the plea bargaining agreement between state prosecutors and the former military comptroller, retired M/Gen. Carlos Garcia. Senate Majority Leader Tito Sotto described that partial report as “a mere scrap of paper” that could not be referred to the plenary. Before Guingona, I had never heard of any Senate committee chairman coming out with a partial report on an ongoing investigation.
Oh well, at least on the inquiry into the purchase of choppers, he still has to make his formal report. But, will this lessen his error in continuing his inquiry into an issue where he has already made conclusions?
In the case of Ms. Del Rosario and General Garcia, the blue ribbon committee was incredulous and irate whenever they could not remember things that happened years ago. Perhaps, the indignation was righteous. I sure wish they had shown the same temper at the previous inquiry into the alleged involvement of Local Government Undersecretary Rico Puno in the jueteng scandal. Yet, the committee did not raise a howl when Puno said he could not remember the names of jueteng emissaries who went to his office just a few months earlier and tried to bribe him to allow jueteng operation.
Incidentally, whatever happened to that blue ribbon inquiry? Why the abrupt ending? And why is there no committee report yet? Is it because this incident took place under the Aquino administration, and it involved a shooting buddy? And whatever happened to the avowed intensive campaign against the illegal numbers game?
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