President Duterte has invoked "executive privilege" in barring the Presidential Security Group (PSG) from appearing in a Senate inquiry on its vaccination effort, Malacañang said Tuesday.
(SIMEON CELI/ PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO / MANILA BULLETIN)
Presidential spokesman Harry Roque however said there is no presidential directive prohibiting the PSG from cooperating with other investigations launched by agencies under the executive branch.
The latest pronouncement from the Palace came a day after President Duterte defended his close-in security team who received unregistered coronavirus vaccines out of "self-preservation."
"Unang-una (First), there is no gag order. The President said he will invoke executive privilege and forbid his security group from attending the Senate hearing. That's not really a gag order,” Roque said during a press briefing aired on state television.
"'Yung mga hearings ng ehekutibo (The hearings by executive agencies) may continue and of course we expect the PSG to appear and cooperate,” he added.
Roque made clear that the President need not ask the PSG to cooperate with the investigation by agencies like the National Bureau of Investigation and Food and Drug Administration. "I think they will (cooperate) because there is no order from the President not to participate," he added.
Amid plans of the Senate to launch an inquiry into the government's vaccination plan, President Duterte recently warned of a possible crisis if the legislature "tinkers" with the PSG.
Duterte also ordered PSG commander Brig. Gen.Jesus Durante III "not to obey the summons" of Congress and "stay put in the barracks." He also told the PSG to "shut up" and invoke the right against self-incrimination if forced to testify in the inquiry.
In moving to protect the PSG, Duterte explained that he would not allow the soldiers from getting "brutalized" in the Senate probe. He claimed that the PSG vaccination was a matter of self-preservation.
The PSG has recently been under scrutiny over the use of experimental vaccines without any approval from health authorities.
Local regulators have yet to approve any of the coronavirus vaccines developed by foreign manufacturers. Pfizer is so far the only company that applied for vaccine use before the Food and Drug Administration.
When asked if other people can also use unapproved vaccines using the "self-preservation" defense, Roque claims that the such argument only pertained to the PSG given its mission to protect the President.