SC allows Senate to probe Villar's ethics case with condition

With one condition, the Supreme Court has allowed the Senate committee of the whole to investigate the ethics complaint against Sen. Manuel Villar Jr., who allegedly used his power in 2008 to realign the C-5 road project for the benefit of his companies. In a 19-page decision, the court said the Senate committee of the whole has to publish its rules first so that the ethics committee's referral of the complaint will take effect. "The referral of the complaint by the Committee on Ethics and Privileges to the Senate Committee of the Whole shall take effect only upon publication of the Rules of the Senate Committee of the Whole," said the court's decision promulgated March 8, 2011. "Even if the publication is not required under the Constitution, publication of the Rules of the Senate committee of the whole is required because the Rules expressly mandate their publication," the court added. The court was acting on the petition filed by Villar and five other senators who were seeking to prevent the Senate committee of the whole from hearing the ethics complaint filed by then Sen. Jamby Madrigal. Moot and academic Villar, a defeated presidential candidate in the May 2010 elections, has repeatedly denied using his influence so that his companies will benefit from the C-5 road extension project. He said the issue was just used by his political opponents to besmirch his name. In an e-mailed statement to GMA News Online on Monday, Villar said he welcomes the court decision agreeing with his position that the publication requirement of the rules of the Senate committee of the whole should have been complied with before it can proceed with its investigation. "Records would show that there was no publication of the rules therefore all acts done were invalid. In fact, corrections in the rules were introduced both in the Ethics and [committee of the whole] but they were never published," he said. Villar, however, said the decision is now all "moot and academic." "The C5 issue is automatically terminated when the 14th Congress lapsed. In the case of Neri vs. Blue Ribbon, GR 180643, the closure of the 14th Congress terminates all pending matters and proceedings, i.e legislations and investigations," he said. Petition vs Senate committee of the whole In their petition before the Supreme Court, Villar and his Senate allies — then Sen. Aquilino Pimentel Jr., Senators Pia Cayetano, Alan Cayetano, Joker Arroyo, and Francis Pangilinan — said the transfer of the ethics complaint from the Senate ethics committee to the committee of the whole violated Villar's right to equal protection, which is provided by the 1987 Constitution. They added that Villar's right to due process was violated because the committee of the whole refused to publish its rules in spite of its own provision which requires its effectivity upon publication. The petitioners also argued that the transmittal of the complaint to the committee of the whole was discriminatory and had removed Villar's defenses against any report of the ethics committee to the Senate as a body. SC ruling But in its ruling, the Supreme Court said the refusal of Villar and his bloc to name its members to the Senate ethics committee on June 29, 2009 stalled the investigation. It added that the committee had no recourse but to refer the investigation to the Senate committee of the whole. "The refusal of the minority to name its members to the ethics committee stalled the investigation. In short, while ordinarily an investigation is within the jurisdiction of the ethics committee, the minority effectively prevented it from pursuing the investigation when they refused to nominate their members to the ethics committee," the court said. "Given the circumstances, the referral of the investigation to the committee of the whole was an extraordinary remedy undertaken by the ethics committee and approved by a majority of the members of the Senate," it added. SC on the non-publication of the Rules On the non-publication of the Rules of the Senate committee, the court held that the committee should publish its Rules which "expressly provide for their publication before the rules can take effect." "Even if the publication is not required under the Constitution, publication of the Rules of the Senate committee of the whole is required because the Rules expressly mandate their publication," said the SC. It held that the committee of the whole cannot cite the argument that because the Senate ethics committee had published its rules on the Official Gazette, the Senate committee of the whole need not publish the same rules it had adopted. "To reiterate, the Rules of the Senate committee of the whole expressly require publication before the Rules can take effect. To comply with due process requirements, the Senate must follow its own internal rules if the rights of its own members are affected," said the SC. Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio wrote the decision. Those who concurred were: Chief Justice Renato Corona and Associate Justices Conchita Carpio-Morales, Presbitero Velasco, Teresita Leonardo-De Castro, Diosdado Peralta, Lucas Bersamin, Mariano del Castillo, Roberto Abad, Martin Villarama Jr., Jose Perez, Jose Catral Mendoza, and Ma. Lourdes Sereno. Those who did not join the voting were Associate Justices Eduardo Nachura and Arturo Brion, who were both on official leave. - with Kimberly Jane Tan/KBK, GMA News