FINAL REPORT - Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism

days notice before the contract can be fully rescinded, and,
therefore, sir, at the very least three (3) months retainer
contract has been paid , and as you pointed out for US$75,000
a month that is US$225,000 for the 3-month duration of the
contract and I think at today’s exchange rate is upward of 13
million pesos indeed a very big sum of money which could have
been wisely used for more productive purposes for our people.
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JUSTICE CAPULONG: Ah… I have no more question to you Atty. Cadiz.
Do you have anything to say in connection with the Venable
Contract that is the subject matter of your testimony this
morning?
ATTY. JOSE ANSELMO CADIZ: Well, sir, ah… as I previously stated,
this is not only illegal but likewise unconstitutional.
But, what really is truly objectionable here is the glaring fact
that this government has begged money before a foreign
government to alter the fundamental law of the land. We may
be poor in terms of per capita income or gross national product
may be low but, then, at the end of the day, I believe that our
national dignity, our national pride as a people must not be
compromised because only by maintaining our pride and our
dignity as a people can we rise up on this abject situation that
we are in. So, this contract has previously been made a secret
and it was not through the Philippine Government that this
came about so probably in their own mind this is also an
objectionable contract, but, then, they persisted. They asked
money for the purpose of changing our Constitution. Foreign aid is
not bad per se, sir, but, then, if it is to beg money to alter our
Constitution, I think, that is most reprehensible. Thank you very
much sir." (emphasis supplied)
That the Venable Llp. contract was done surreptitiously, through a national
security adviser instead of the President herself or the Secretary of Foreign Affairs, is a
most valid and crucial observation. In fact, the possibility of arguing it was of no legal
effect anyway because ultra vires, i.e., beyond the power of Gonzales to execute no
matter his signature, was one of the escape valves that President Arroyo, through
Norberto Gonzales, had tried to utilize to diffuse the scandal. We certainly agree with
Atty. Cadiz that the execution of this contract by the President through her authorized
alter-ego is a culpable violation of the Constitution as well as an act of graft and
corruption, because it has resulted in the criminal wastage of public funds.
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