Examining the limits and coverage of the executive privilege: Neri case

• Main Authors: Cruz, Katrina P., Pahimna, Madeline Lovaire J.
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 2008
• Subjects: Commercial Law
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etd_bachelors/17741
• Institution: De La Salle University

The issue of the validity of the executive privilege is always a thorny and complicated issue. It crosses the border between two integral rights: the executive's right to withhold information in the line with its decision-making and the congressional right to conduct inquiries in aid of legislation. Both agencies have legitimate arguments in supporting the validity or invalidity of the executive privilege. In the recent case of Romulo Neri v. Senate Committee, the Court once again touched on the constitutional concept. It elaborated further on the extent of one type of executive privilege, which the presidential communications privilege. Three justifications were given in supporting the validity of Romulo Neri's invocation of the executive privilege: the information sought are deemed confidential in character the three pending questions might impair the country's diplomatic and economic relations with People's Republic of China and the conversations with the President dealt with sensitive and national security matters relating to the impact of the bribery scandal involving high government officials and the possible loss of confidence of foreign investors and lenders in the Philippines. On the other hand, the three pending questions as argued by the Legislature are pertinent to the pending legislations which involve the BOT and government procurement law. While the test employed is valid, there are some inconsistencies with the parameters set by Ermita v. Senate. What this study aims to do is to critically analyze the Supreme Court ruling on the Neri case vis-Ã -vis the executive privilege and to examine the limitations set by the Court and its application to the said case. This will be accomplished by delving into the past cases in order not only to differentiate the current study but also to trace the historical development of the constitutional concept in order to forestall the pernicious effect of allowing inconsistencies in the parameters used in testing the validity of the executive privilege. The proponents will employ extensive library research and case studies to gather sufficient information for the analysis. Thus in garnering the related cases and information, a proposed alternative to the test used by the Court will be arrived at and a comparison of the different tests that may be used in determining the validity and discerning the parameters will be made.