FINAL REPORT - Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism

3. The Contract with Venable Llp.
On July 25, 2005, in her State of the Nation Address, President Arroyo
enunciated the need for charter change as her central focus, even as she absolutely
ignored the national crisis rocking the country arising from the controversy
surrounding her legitimacy as President following discovery of the Garci Tapes.
It was also on that very day that President Arroyo, through her National
Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales, executed a contract with the foreign law firm
Venable Llp., to lobby and procure United States grants or congressional funds for the
purpose of effecting amendments to the 1987 Philippine constitution.
Jose Anselmo Cadiz, president of the 43,000-strong Integrated Bar of the
Philippines, testified before the CCTA to attest to the shameful unconstitutionality of
this contract by which the nation's chief executive not only allows but in fact requests
funding from a foreign sovereign for the precise purpose of tinkering with the
fundamental law of her people. We quote from his testimony as follows:
"JUSTICE CAPULONG: You stated that one of the main objectives of the
IBP as an organization of laywers which discharge social or public
responsibility …Will you please state more or less briefly the scope
of that social or public responsibility of the Integrated Bar of the
Philippines.
ATTY. JOSE ANSELMO CADIZ: Sir, the IBP takes its role seriously in
terms of these objectives and we pride ourselves in making a
stand on issues on national importance like the resignation of the
President, the illegality of the Executive Order 464, the illegality of
the Calibrated Preemptive Response. As a policy of these
government and corollarily to our opposition to Executive
Order 464 is our view that the Venable Contract entered into
by the National Security Adviser is not only illegal but most
importantly unconstitutional.
JUSTICE CAPULONG: Before we go to that Venable Contract, may I ask
you if you made a serious study of that contract?
ATTY. JOSE ANSELMO CADIZ: Yes sir, we did, and in fact, our position
to EO 464 is anchored on the study of the Venable Contract
because we believed that EO 464 was an offshoot of the testimony
of Secretary Gonzales in the Senate.
xxx xxx xxx
JUSTICE CAPULONG: May I invite your attention Atty. Cadiz to the
following provision of the Venable Contract and I will read to
you this provision as part of this representation meaning
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