Palace fine-tunes EO on anti-corruption body

MANILA, Philippines - Malacañang is cautious about crafting and reviewing an executive order creating the Presidential Commission Against Corruption (PCAC) that former senator Panfilo Lacson would head.

Palace lawyers are in the process of fine-tuning the draft executive order.

Malacañang sources said the draft order has just been transmitted from the office of chief presidential legal counsel Alfredo Benjamin Caguioa to the office of Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr. for review.

Insiders likewise said Lacson will sit as PCAC chairman with two commissioners and a task force comprised of around 100 agents for   investigative work.

However, the scope of the PCAC’s authority is not yet clear.

It could not be ascertained yet whether the PCAC would have jurisdiction over appointed officials or elected officials.

In issuing EO 13 in November 2010, Aquino abolished the Presidential Anti-Graft Commission for duplicating the mandate of other agencies, especially the Office of the Ombudsman.

The EO transferred the PAGC’s functions to investigate, adjudicate and recommend administrative charges against appointed officials to the Office of the Deputy Secretary for Legal Affairs. 

The ODESLA is authorized to investigate graft and corrupt cases of presidential appointees, including heads of government-owned and controlled corporations.