Sen. Richard "Dick" Gordon, chairman of Committee on Electoral Reforms, revealed that House Majority Leader Prospero C. Nograles sent a letter to his committee stating that they are declining the invitation.
"Thus, members of the House, as well as its officials, are constrained from appearing and testifying on the same matter before your committee to obviate the possibility of influencing, in any manner, the judgment thereon. Following the doctrine of sub-judice, we have to resort to all reasonable means of preventing a situation where there would be a conflicting decision between legislative branch and a judicial tribunal where the subject matter is pending," Nograles said.
After reading into the record Nograles’ letter, Gordon emphasized that the focus of his committee hearing is on proposed election modernization and was not "to impute blame or to find fault."
Also failing to attend was House Deputy Secretary-General Artemio Adaza.
The Legarda camp had alleged that there was a break-in at the House of Representatives to prejudice the former senator’s electoral protest.
The refusal of the Lower House leadership to allow Fabic to appear prompted Sen. Rodolfo G. Biazon to state that the Senate continues to be affected by Malacañang’s Executive Order (EO) 464 by the nonappearance of witnesses even from the other chamber of Congress.
After a series of controversial policies or alleged graft-ridden contracts entered into by the Executive branch, Malacanang issued EO 464 which banned Cabinet members and key government officials, and ranking officials of the military and the police from appearing before any congressional hearings without a written permission from the President.
Among those who attended the hearing were Resurreccion Z. Borra; Ramon V. Seneres, former chairman of the National Computer Center; Department of Science and Technology (DOST) Secretary Estrella Alabastro; and lawyer Sixto Brillantes, counsel of Ms. Legarda.
After Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Q. Pimentel Jr. asked whether the Comelec could clear up the election mess by asking the controversial but missing Comelec Commissioner Virgilio Garcillano to appear, Borra added levity to the otherwise serious discussion on election modernization-related issues by asking the senators to simply use their cellphones and call "Hello Garci!."
FORMAL INVENTORY ASKED
During the hearing, the Gordon committee asked for a formal inventory of certificate of canvass covering the May 2004 presidential election from all election-related agencies concerned following revelations that the Senate received 65 ballot boxes containing certificate of canvass (COCs) while the Lower House received 68.
Borra said it is the Senate that first receives these boxes from provincial election supervisors containing the COCs.
The Senate, in turn, sends these boxes to the Lower House at the Batasang Pambansa complex in Quezon City where results of the presidential and vice presidential elections are canvassed.
Asked to undertake the inventory during the Senate technical working group meetings are the Senate, the Lower House, the Comelec and National Movement for Free Elections (Namfrel) which all have copies of the COCs.
Based on the motion of Sen. Sergio Osmeña III and endorsed by Borra, Gordon invited representatives of the two major political alliances – the pro-administration K-4 alliance and the opposition Kilusan ng Nagkakaisang Pilipino (KNP)- to appear in the next hearing as they also have the same copies of the COCs.
"We are writing them (Lower House) a letter stating that we have found out that there may be discrepancies and so we have to ask carefully, again, to re-evaluate the number of ballot boxes and electoral returns as well as other documents submitted here and what was turned over to the House. They have 68 and we have 65," Gordon said.
