‘How many of these hearings actually produce committee reports that contain recommendations that aid the crafting of new, if not improved legislation?’
How much do congressional committees spend on extended hearings or investigations they conduct in aid of legislation? How many “resource persons,” on average, are invited per hearing day, and how many work hours of government employees or officials, who are invited or subpoenaed, are lost, whenever they attend such long-winded hearings?
It’s the same hearings that any epal legislator wouldn’t pass up for the fantastic opportunity to obtain free media exposure on television, radio, online, and even social media. Never mind if they have only nonsensical questions to ask because negative publicity, as they say, is still publicity. But more importantly, how many of these hearings actually produce committee reports that contain recommendations that aid the crafting of new, if not improved legislation?
It’s not easy to get exact figures about actual cost — I saw a Freedom of Information request in 2021 for every Senate blue ribbon committee hearing expenditure. Guess what? The request was denied.
But if it’s any indication, about 12 years ago, reports said the five-month prosecution of then-chief justice Renato Corona in the Senate impeachment court cost the lower chamber about P5.7 million. The upper chamber, for its part, claimed to have spent P3.5 million for the impeachment trial when it had budgeted as much as P5 million. In year 2000, the House of Representatives also allocated a P5-million budget for the prosecution of then-impeached ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez, who just opted for resignation. That amount was based on a similar budget for the impeachment of then-president Joseph Estrada.
More than a decade later, it’s easy to imagine how these numbers could easily inflate to more than double even for just committee hearings. The political wonks have coined the term “Senateflix,” which perfectly captures the series of hearings that have kept the curious, the FOMO-afflicted, and the civic-minded alike all glued to the hours-long live interrogations. Be sure to read this treasure trove of latest stories about the continuing mysteries and surprises of the Philippine offshore gaming operator (POGO) hubs, starring dismissed Bamban mayor Alice Guo, aka Guo Hua Ping, Cassandra Ong, and a whole cast of characters.
From all these episodes, what senators have claimed to have established so far, with a combination of grilling, badgering, and a display of documents that only lawmakers (besides the courts, perhaps) could obtain through the power of a subpoena are the following:
- Alice Guo is not who she seems she is — she is the serial liar and “scam artist” Chinese Guo Hua Ping.
- An intricate web of lies backed by bribery to the max has fooled Filipinos and an entire Philippine bureaucracy from the national down to the local level.
- The complicity of corrupt law enforcement and regulatory officials has enabled and empowered criminals.
- “Official” documents from Philippine government agencies are easy to finagle for the right price.
- POGO operatives have managed to set up an elaborate network of scamming activities that have victimized Asians. (READ: After Alice Guo’s arrest, Indonesian ’scam university’ survivors await justice)
- A facade of legitimacy has shielded suspicious, illegal business operations worth millions, if not billions, of pesos. More in this story: Making sense of the Alice Guo enterprise.
If you think about it, there’s really nothing new here, save for the personalities, amounts, and workflows of the corrupt and corrupted. If these are recurring issues, it means that deterrents in place aren’t working — at all. Let’s see what new legislation will emerge from all these.
LOWER CHAMBER, TOO. The House of Representatives, for its part, would not be sidelined. The quad panel consisting of the committees on dangerous drugs, human rights, public accounts, and public order and safety, has been looking at connections between and among their areas of interest. Questions and answers appear headed in one direction, many have observed. Are they closing in on former president Rodrigo Duterte?
The elder Duterte is not alone. His daughter, Vice President Sara Duterte, made a surprise appearance at the House of Representatives only yesterday, September 18. It was truly dramatic, her refusal to take her oath before the House good government committee, anchored on the argument that she was invited as a “resource person” and not as a “witness.”
The VP was likely advised to show up this time, after skipping budget hearings on her own Office of the Vice President, which she shouldn’t have done. That failure to defend and explain OVP expenditures, along with her new ask for 2025 put in clear view of the public her deficient skills as an executive. If everything was aboveboard and clearly defensible, the legitimate questions of the feisty women of the House should not have fazed the Veep into absence during the hearing. You don’t back down, you speak up. Otherwise you’re perceived as an entitled brat who can’t — and won’t — defend her actions and decisions. That’s failure in leadership right there.
The VP has repeatedly said all this questioning in the House has but one intent: to impeach her. (You can watch what happened in the House yesterday here.) Probably right — given how rumors in this country turn out to be eventually true — but highly speculative at this point. What we saw yesterday was carefully scripted and planned, all the way to the ambush interview after the VP left without entertaining questions from lawmakers. She had a clear message for the President, which she made sure he wouldn’t miss: We never were, and never will be friends. Then exit.
Was it a brilliant political move? We’ll see in the next survey. If you recall, Sara Duterte’s satisfaction rating plunged to its lowest in the June-July survey of Social Weather Stations. This was after she quit as education secretary. An August OCTA Research survey also showed a drop in her trust ratings from 68% to 65%. Surely, her media handlers saw the decline needed to be arrested and the Vice President needed to go on the offensive. That’s why she appeared in the House.
Till Thursday after next! If you like what you’re reading on Rappler, help us continue doing these stories by supporting independent and quality journalism. – Rappler.com
Rappler Investigates is a bimonthly newsletter of our top picks delivered straight to your inbox every other Thursday.
To subscribe, visit rappler.com/profile and click the Newsletters tab. You need a Rappler account and you must log in to manage your newsletter subscriptions.
