Executive Privilege and The People's Right To Information
It should be noted that petitioner Neri appeared before the respondent Committees and answered all of their questions except the three where he claimed executive privilege. Nevertheless, his refusal to answer based on the claim of executive privilege does not violate the people's right to information on matters of public concern simply because Sec. 7, Art. III of the Constitution itself provides that this right is “subject to such limitations as may be provided by law.” As correctly pleaded by Neri, he is precluded from divulging the answers to the three questions by Sec. 7 of R.A. 6713, Article 229 of the Revised Penal Code, Sec. 3(k) of R.A. 3019, and Section 24(e), Rule 130 of the Rules of Court. These are in addition to the larger concept of executive privilege, which recognizes the public interest in the confidentiality of certain information.
Read more about this topic: Neri Vs. Senate
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