Parliamentary of the Streets

Daily, we watch the news and see people in the streets with their banner, propaganda and idealism. They want PGMA out of the Palace and they want a new administration.

Weeks ago, a “prayer rally” led by former Vice-President Teofisto Guingona, Sen. Jamby Madrigal, Rep. Satur Ocampo and Fr. Robert Reyes was water cannoned by the police. There was much uproar over the violent dispersal of a supposedly religious rally. And then there was even more hullabaloo over the presence of an armed man (Sen. Madrigal’s bodyguard) among the ranks of the rallyists.

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EO 464

So the Palace has curbed the ability of the Congress (the Senate and the House of Representatives) to call upon just about any cabinet member or military official for a Congressional Hearing “in aid of legislation.”

I was not able to find the full text of EO 464, but according to the government’s official website:

…Executive Order 464 which bars Cabinet members and other senior government officials, including members of the armed services, from appearing in congressional investigations unless authorized by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo….

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