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MANILA - THE Philippines' Supreme Court blocked the Senate on Tuesday from compelling a senior government official to testify in an inquiry into a multi-million dollar kickbacks scandal.
The 9-6 decision by the court upheld the right of Romulo Neri, a former economic planning chief, to invoke executive privilege and refuse to tell the Senate about a conversation with President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo on a telecoms deal.
The court ruling appears to be a major victory for Arroyo, who has called the inquiry by the opposition-dominated Senate a witch-hunt.
Witnesses have told the Senate that about $130 million (S$180 million) was paid in kickbacks in the $329 million deal with China's ZTE Corp to build a broadband network linking government offices across the Philippines.
Both Mrs Arroyo and her husband have been named in the inquiry, but no proof has been offered.
The president has denied any wrongdoing.
Senate to file appeal
But senators said they would appeal against the Supreme Court ruling and also noted they were not blocked from recalling Mr Neri.
'The Senate will not allow interference in purely legislative matters by other branches of government,' said Senator Francis Pangilinan.
'We will not allow this legal setback to prevent us from seeking the truth. This is a temporary setback and we intend to correct and remedy the situation by legally asserting our prerogative as a co-equal.'
Aquilino Pimentel, leader of the opposition bloc in the Senate, called the Supreme Court ruling a 'terrible decision', and said it could 'really emasculate the Senate's investigative function'.
But Joker Arroyo, a pro-government senator, said: 'The decision upholding executive privilege is as it should be, an exercise of judicial statesmanship to maintain the delicate balance of power between the executive and the legislative, without which we would have a never-ending tug-of-war between the president and the Senate, unhealthy for the country.'
Jose Midas Marquez, the court's spokesman, also said the bench voted 10-5 to declare as illegal the Senate's decision to cite Mr Neri for contempt and order his arrest for his failure to heed subpoenas for him to appear in the graft inquiry.
Last month, tens of thousands of people gathered in Manila's financial district calling for Mrs Arroyo to step down, the biggest crowd since 2005 when about 40,000 protested against her amid allegations she cheated in the 2004 elections.
Analysts say she is in no danger and is likely to see out her term which ends in 2010 with solid support from the military and an overwhelming majority in the House of Representatives. -- REUTERS
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