00:00Because of being a thief or a liar, how many women in Pogo were contempted and arrested by the Congress?
00:07A resource person was transferred to the Correctional Institution.
00:11Does the power of the judges have that much power?
00:14Joseph Morong was the one who pointed it out.
00:20Last night, Cassandra Leong, one of the women in Pogo, was transferred to the Correctional Institution for Women in Mandaluyong,
00:26a facility where women who were sentenced to criminal cases are usually imprisoned.
00:31Ong was imprisoned not because he was sentenced by the court,
00:37but because of the contempt citation of the camera.
00:39After that, some Congressmen did not answer some of the questions about his claim in Pogo.
00:45They cannot impose upon the facilities belonging to the executive branch.
00:51And CIW is under the Bucor, which is in turn under the DOJ, an executive facility.
00:58So what is your basis for putting it there?
01:00We can determine as to where the person will be detained and as to how many days.
01:08Detention facility. It can be in the house, it can be in the city jail, it can also be in other correction facilities.
01:18Attorney Harry Roque, the contempt is now approved.
01:22One of the people arrested by the Congress for contempt is the former presidential spokesperson Harry Roque,
01:27who repeatedly refused to listen to the House Quad Committee in its investigation on Pogo.
01:32In the case of his accomplice in the Supreme Court, in order to stop the arrest order,
01:37he called it grave abuse of discretion by the House Quad Committee.
01:41He also said that it is taking away the power of the executive branch and the judiciary.
01:46To what extent is the power of the Congress, that is the Senate and the House of Representatives,
01:51in their hearings in aid of legislation or in their enactment of legislation?
01:56Can they issue arrest warrants and put them in jail, even in ordinary prisons?
02:03According to the former president of the Integrated Board of the Philippines or IBP,
02:07Atty. Domingo Cayosa, in the Constitution,
02:10the power of the Congress is to conduct inquiries in aid of legislation.
02:14The Constitution does not stipulate the power to issue contempt and issue arrest warrants, but...
02:19The contempt power is inherent in that power to hear, because that also includes the power to subpoena,
02:30and also the power to order an arrest if you don't obey the subpoena.
02:36Even if you have the power and authority to hear or investigate,
02:42if you don't have the power to call them, or even if you're useless, right?
02:48The Senate and House of Representatives have their own rules on how to use these powers.
02:53They said that. Not the witness, not the Supreme Court.
02:57The same way that Congress cannot pass a law saying this should be the procedure in the judiciary.
03:06Under the rules of the Camera, two-thirds of the members of the committee should approve the contempt order
03:11and will detain those who do not exceed 10 days in a place designated by the chairperson of the committee.
03:17Under the rules, the Congress can hold a prison like a correctional.
03:22We're already full here. Second, we feel that she's probably going to cooperate if she will be isolated.
03:38The Senate has different rules on contempt, but it can also hold a prison.
03:42But so far, we have not yet done that. We have a detention facility that can accommodate, I believe, eight people.
03:50And expandable to another eight again, should the need arise.
03:56Yeah, they can. For example, their detention center is full in Congress or in the Senate.
04:02They can or they feel it's safer there. Because they're detention prisoners.
04:07The legislative branch can coordinate with the executive.
04:11If the executive accommodates the request, there's nothing wrong with that.
04:18It's not the prisoner who will choose. You should put me here.
04:23But until when can a resource person be held in prison?
04:27That was watched in 2018 in the Supreme Court by a frat man who was contempted by the Senate after he became the president of the frat.
04:35The Supreme Court said that the contempt order is only effective until the hearing is not over.
04:41It will be considered over if there's a committee report or if the term of the Camera or Senate is over.
04:47The contempt power is just a mechanism not to punish, because you're not accused, you're not convicted, but to enforce or encourage cooperation.
05:01If you're not hiding anything and you're willing to tell the truth, you won't have much of a problem.
05:08In those exceptional circumstances, grave abuse of discretion, or your right to our Constitution is being violated, the Supreme Court is there.
05:21Both the Senate and the Camera did not abuse their contempt powers.
05:27For GMA Integrated News, Joseph Morong, Tutok 24 Horas.
05:37For GMA Integrated News, Joseph Morong, Tutok 24 Horas.
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