Palace studying all options on Truth Commission

MANILA, Philippines - Malacañang yesterday declared that transferring the job of the Truth Commission to the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) is just “one of the options” President Aquino may take in seeking to reverse the ruling of the Supreme Court (SC) declaring the Truth Commission unconstitutional.

Even as Malacañang seemed to have been offended by the premature leakage of former Justice Magdangal Elma of his legal opinion, presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda gave assurance that no sanctions await the presidential adviser on special concerns.

“I think the more prudent thing to do is to submit it (legal memorandum) to the President, but since it was already out, we will be studying all the options. There’s no plan to reprimand Justice Elma,” Lacierda said.

Sources revealed Aquino was angry with Elma for making public his opinion on the issue.

A high ranking official said Aquino asked Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr. who released the proposal when they were still in the process of exploring all options to reverse the SC ruling.

It was learned that Elma’s office released the proposal without coordinating with Ochoa and the Communications Group.

The official explained the President did not want their options discussed prematurely since the administration was bent on putting closure to all the supposed anomalies committed under the previous administration.

Elma came out with the idea of consolidating the task of the Truth Commission with the PCGG. Elma served as head of the PCGG during the administration of former President Joseph Estrada.

By options, Lacierda meant that amending or modifying Executive Order 1 creating the five-man Truth Commission and filing a motion for reconsideration were the avenues being sought in the effort to reverse the SC ruling.

“The only time-bound option is a motion for reconsideration. The Office of the Solicitor General received the SC decision last Dec. 9,” Lacierda said.

“All these suggested options are being discussed by the legal team right now,” he said.

Lacierda said there are “several options” being considered that might cure the unconstitutional ruling over the EO.

“We will just withhold what those options are until such time the Executive Secretary or the President decides on what instructions (to give) to the legal team,” he said.

The PCGG option, according to Lacierda, “will be laid on the table.”

“We don’t have any position yet. We’re studying all the options. It (PCGG tack) is just one of those options that are suggested. So they’re studying all the legal options and they will come out with the decision soon,” he added.

In a memorandum to President Aquino, Elma opined that the Chief Executive is authorized to “consolidate” the mandate of the Truth Commission to the PCGG.

The PCGG was created by virtue of EO 1 of Aquino’s late mother, former President Corazon Aquino in February 1986. Elma explained the EO 1 that created the Truth Commission and designated former chief justice Hilario Davide Jr. as head of the five-man panel can be incorporated into the EO that created the PCGG.

The PCGG has the mandate to recover the ill-gotten wealth of the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos and cronies.

The Davide Commission, on the other hand, was tasked to investigate anomalies committed in the previous administration, or that of former president and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal- Arroyo.

Elma cited Section 2(b) of the PCGG charter that provided the agency is tasked to assist the President in, among others, “the investigation of such cases of graft and corruption as the President may assign to the commission from time to time.”

“Being a law (EO 1-1986), the PCGG remains effective up to the present,” Elma pointed out, invoking Article XVIII Section 3 of the 1987 Constitution that provided that “all existing laws... shall remain operative until amended, repealed or revoked.””

Merging the two panels job would no longer raise concerns regarding legal infirmities like that of the Davide Commission because PCGG is a creation of law whose existence had been upheld by the SC in a long line of cases involving the Marcoses and their cronies. – With Aurea Calica, Christina Mendez, Helen Flores