The Great Dissenters

In the case of Romulo Neri vs. Senate Committee On Accountability of Public Officers and Investigations, et. al. (G.R. No. 180643, 25 March 2008), six (6) members of the Supreme Court namely Chief Justice Puno and Justices Carpio, Azcuna, Carpio-Morales, Martinez and Ynares-Santiago ruled that the three questions that Neri had refused to answer in the Senate probe are not covered by executive privilege. I do admire these six gallant dissenters who ruled on the strength of their blind loyalty to the Constitution and firm reverence to the doctrines of separation of powers and checks and balances. The minority ruling in effect wanted to uphold and legitimize the constitutional power of the Senate to compel a witness who refuses to heed a subpoena and reject the Executive Department’s resistance to the Senate’s power of inquiry which is coextensive with the power to legislate.







I salute you, Your Honor!