Harvey Keh, who describes himself as a director at the Ateneo de Manila University School of Government, prevaricated when he wrote that Sen. Joker Arroyo “asked his colleagues … to stop their investigation … of the scandalous PNP helicopter deal implicating former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and her husband.” (Inquirer, 8/29/11)
Keh’s authority? He cites the Inquirer issue of Aug. 22, 2011. Nowhere in that issue does it appear that Senator Arroyo asked that the hearings be stopped. Mindful of the Constitution which explicitly mandates that “the rights of persons appearing in or affected by the (congressional) inquiries should be respected,” Senator Arroyo, as reported in the Inquirer, “cautioned his peers… against aggressive investigations,” which he said resulted in the suicide of Gen. Angie Reyes and DBP lawyer Benjamin Pinpin, the latter “due to his fears of a public grilling.”
Worse, Keh maliciously suppressed the context of Senator Arroyo’s position (reported likewise in the same Inquirer article that he referred to) that no amount of congressional investigation per se can ripen into a criminal case unless the Ombudsman or the Department of Justice conducts preliminary investigation and files the appropriate criminal complaint with the courts. Hence, the senator underscored the need for the Ombudsman or the DOJ to undertake the investigation once a congressional inquiry feels a credible case can be established.
Keh teaches in a school of government. His letter, which deliberately misrepresents a written article and distorts its context to suit his blighted and biased prejudgments, regretfully betrays his disingenuous and pretentious posturing. This is intellectual dishonesty at its worst, which is distressing because he is supposed to be a teacher.
—ABIGAIL ANNE L. HINTO,
legislative staff,
Office of Sen. Joker P. Arroyo,
Senate, Pasay City