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SUPREME COURT
Manila
EN BANC
G.R. No. 180643
September 4, 2008
arrest of petitioner. They could have informed petitioner of their ruling and
given him time to decide whether to accede or file a motion for
reconsideration. After all, he is not just an ordinary witness; he is a highranking official in a co-equal branch of government. He is an alter ego of the
President. The same haste and impatience marked the issuance of the
contempt order, despite the absence of the majority of the members of the
respondent Committees, and their subsequent disregard of petitioners motion
for reconsideration alleging the pendency of his petition for certiorari before
this Court.
On a concluding note, we are not unmindful of the fact that the Executive and
the Legislature are political branches of government. In a free and democratic
society, the interests of these branches inevitably clash, but each must treat
the other with official courtesy and respect. This Court wholeheartedly concurs
with the proposition that it is imperative for the continued health of our
democratic institutions that we preserve the constitutionally mandated checks
and balances among the different branches of government.