Aquino stands by Davide, dismisses Erap claims

President Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III on Wednesday stood by former chief justice Hilario Davide Jr., a day after former President Joseph Estrada criticized the choice of the retired magistrate to head the soon-to-be-formed Truth Commission. At his first press conference in Malacañang, President Aquino said he believes Davide can properly carry out the mandate of the Truth Commission, which the president had announced will probe various scandals that hounded the Arroyo administration. "I think he's an honorable person and he will produce the necessary outcome as dictated by the mandate that he accepted," Aquino said, referring to Davide. "At this stage of his life, would he want to be associated with something mediocre or a failure in terms of the mandate that it has?" he added. In a radio interview Tuesday, Estrada said Davide was unfit to head the Truth Commission, claiming the former chief justice was indebted to former President-now-Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo for appointing him as Philippine ambassador and Permanent Representative of the Philippines to the United Nations in New York. It was Davide who acted as presiding judge in the impeachment trial against Estrada in December 2000. Then Vice President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo assumed the highest post in the land after a mass uprising — similar to the 1986 People Power Revolution — put an abrupt end to Estrada’s reign. Davide administered Arroyo's oath-taking in January 2001 and it was also during his watch that the Supreme Court upheld the legality of her assumption to the presidency. 'Delicadeza' But President Aquino pointed out that Davide had the "delicadeza" to resign from the UN post when the latter decided to support him in the recent presidential elections. President Aquino also brushed off Estrada's statement that the former Philippine leader only appointed Davide to the top judicial post upon the request of businessman Lucio Tan. Estrada also claimed that Davide returned the favor by being instrumental in the dismissal of what was considered as the country’s biggest tax evasion case — the P25.3-billion lawsuit filed against Tan, owner of Fortune Tobacco Corp. and Asia Brewery. "I can understand where their (Estrada's camp) bias comes from but at the same time we did search, and in our mind he (Davide) is one of the most qualified to hold to that position and to head that particular commission," President Aquino said. Also at his press briefing, Aquino said his administration will release the executive order determining the scope of the powers of the Truth Commission within the month. Davide is crafting the proposed scope of the planned commission. "I am not pressuring him to give me the report right away but it's clear there is a deadline and hopefully we'll be coming up with an executive order clearly delineating its functions, composition, its rules then of course the mandate," President Aquino said. President Aquino said he has not personally talked to Davide for updates on the forming of the commission, saying it is Executive Secretary Paquito "Jojo" Ochoa Jr. who is coordinating with the former chief justice. — RSJ/KBK, GMANews.TV