Palace defends move to withhold arrest info
MALACAÑANG cited executive privilege in keeping information related to the arrest of former president Rodrigo Duterte from being made public during last week's inquiry conducted by the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. In a letter to Senate President Francis Escudero and committee chairman Sen. Imee Marcos, Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin said certain matters surrounding Duterte's arrest and subsequent transfer of custody to the International Criminal Court (ICC) "are covered by executive privilege." Bersamin said the Palace had requested the Senate panel to "provide a list of questions and specific matters to be asked" before the resource persons attended the hearing last March 21. "Consistent with the Constitution, laws, and jurisprudence, the Executive Branch respectfully invokes executive privilege against disclosure of information related to the following matters: presidential communications solicited and received by advisers of the President, including those discussed during closed-door Cabinet meetings, on the matters covered by the agenda, on the grounds that these are classified as privileged; communications, documents, correspondence, and information covering military and diplomatic secrets, on the grounds that disclosure thereof will impair diplomatic relations and adversely affect national security," Bersamin said in the letter, a copy of which was obtained by The Manila Times. He also invoked executive privilege on "diplomatic communications and correspondences with law enforcement agencies and government authorities of foreign jurisdictions and international organizations, on the ground that discussion would impair diplomatic relations." Bersamin said transport arrangements for Duterte from Manila to the Netherlands followed the same protocols for transporting other heads of state, and disclosing them "will pose grave risk to national security and impair security protocols." His remarks contradict the Presidential Communications Office's (PCO) earlier statement that the Palace does not object to the hearing, which it sees as an opportunity to explain the legality of Duterte's arrest to the public. "Unlike before that Cabinet members are prevented from appearing before the Senate, the President will not do that. We are for truth, and we want to show that we do everything within the bounds of the law," PCO Undersecretary Claire Castro said in her briefing a day before the inquiry.
Tomas Kauer - Moderator 
MALACAÑANG cited executive privilege in keeping information related to the arrest of former president Rodrigo Duterte from being made public during last week's inquiry conducted by the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations.
In a letter to Senate President Francis Escudero and committee chairman Sen. Imee Marcos, Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin said certain matters surrounding Duterte's arrest and subsequent transfer of custody to the International Criminal Court (ICC) "are covered by executive privilege."
Bersamin said the Palace had requested the Senate panel to "provide a list of questions and specific matters to be asked" before the resource persons attended the hearing last March 21.
"Consistent with the Constitution, laws, and jurisprudence, the Executive Branch respectfully invokes executive privilege against disclosure of information related to the following matters: presidential communications solicited and received by advisers of the President, including those discussed during closed-door Cabinet meetings, on the matters covered by the agenda, on the grounds that these are classified as privileged; communications, documents, correspondence, and information covering military and diplomatic secrets, on the grounds that disclosure thereof will impair diplomatic relations and adversely affect national security," Bersamin said in the letter, a copy of which was obtained by The Manila Times.
He also invoked executive privilege on "diplomatic communications and correspondences with law enforcement agencies and government authorities of foreign jurisdictions and international organizations, on the ground that discussion would impair diplomatic relations."
Bersamin said transport arrangements for Duterte from Manila to the Netherlands followed the same protocols for transporting other heads of state, and disclosing them "will pose grave risk to national security and impair security protocols."
His remarks contradict the Presidential Communications Office's (PCO) earlier statement that the Palace does not object to the hearing, which it sees as an opportunity to explain the legality of Duterte's arrest to the public.
"Unlike before that Cabinet members are prevented from appearing before the Senate, the President will not do that. We are for truth, and we want to show that we do everything within the bounds of the law," PCO Undersecretary Claire Castro said in her briefing a day before the inquiry.
