MALACAÑANG yesterday formed a legal team to study the possible revocation of Executive Order 464, which the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) said hinders the search for truth on the national broadband deal and other controversial issues.

Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said the team met yesterday afternoon and will likely be able to come up with a recommendation today.

He said the legal team is composed of Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez, Solicitor General Agnes Devanadera, chief presidential legal counsel Sergio Antonio Apostol, deputy executive secretary for legal matters Manuel Gaite, and Government Corporate Counsel Alberto Agra.

Gonzalez said Malacañang cannot just scrap EO 464 because there are laws and jurisprudence that must be considered.

"The CBCP should understand that there are parameters to be considered," he said.

Gonzalez said disclosure of state secrets by a public officer, for example, is punishable under the Revised Penal Code.

Ermita said the team also has to take into account the petition of acting Higher Education chair Romulo Neri before the Supreme Court which seeks to stop the Senate from compelling him to attend the ongoing inquiry into the allegedly overpriced $329 million broadband deal.

Neri’s petition is set for hearing on May 3.

Portions of EO 464 which required officials other than Cabinet members to seek permission of the President before attending legislative inquiries have been ruled as unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court, however, upheld the right of Cabinet members to invoke executive privilege when called before the legislature on issues that could jeopardize national security and diplomatic relations.

Chief Justice Reynato Puno said at the sidelines of the International Conference on Impunity and Press Freedom in Peninsula Manila in Makati that the Neri petition will allow the SC to delineate the parameters of executive privilege.

"In this particular case, we shall decide what communications of the President are included in executive privilege," he said,

Puno said the doctrine of executive privilege is firmly entrenched in the Constitution and not even the President can waive it. – Regina Bengco and Evangeline de Vera