Teodoro makes rare appearance at Senate inquiry

Gilbert Teodoro Jr., who has finally appeared at the Senate on Friday, is denying claims that he had intentionally snubbed past Senate inquiries on various issues affecting national security and the military. The defense chief, who was recently anointed as Lakas-Kampi-CMD’s standard bearer, said that it was only on Friday that he had the time to attend the Senate probe. “Ngayon may time naman kaya talagang pupunta kami basta may oras. The notice was given quite early by Sen. (Rodolfo) Biazon. Wala naman kaming intention na hindi siya puntahan (Now we have the time thus, we went to the Senate. The notice was given quite early by Sen. Biazon. We had no intention not to attend)," Teodoro said in an interview after a closed-door meeting with the Senate Committee on National Defense and Security chaired by Biazon. General Victor Ibrado, AFP chief of staff; Lt. Gen. Delfin Bangit, Philippine Army commanding general; Lt. Gen. Oscar Rabena, Philippine Air Force commanding general; and Vice Admiral Ferdinand Golez, Philippine Navy flag officer in command also attended the hearing. Representatives from the Department of Budget and Management, Bureau of Treasury, Bases Conversion Development Authority, RP Development Foundation, Office of the Government Arsenal also attended the inquiry. Teodoro said that it was he who had requested Biazon for an executive session due to the confidentiality of the issues they were going to discuss. Biazon's panel on Friday conducted an inquiry over the modernization program of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, the status of government arsenal, and the proposed suspension of the resumption of the peace talks with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. “I have to request for an executive session … naturally with peace negotiation and current military operations we need to have an executive session because of the very sensitive information we will tackle," Teodoro said. He earlier refused to attend past Senate hearings on the said issues claiming he could not attend legislative inquiries without the nod of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. Last month, Teodoro requested the Senate for a detailed statement of questions to be asked and the matters to be discussed during the inquiry. "This will assist us greatly in obtaining the guidance and permission of the President in regard to our attendance at said hearing," he earlier said. Senators earlier warned of issuing subpoena to government officials who would snub hearings. Biazon had scored Teodoro and military officials for their failure to attend the hearings set by the Senate defense committee. "It is clear that this hearing is in aid of legislation, they have no excuse unless they are afraid that we may discover something anomalous," Biazon said. - AMITA O. LEGASPI, GMANews.TV