Miriam says Truth Commission a brainchild of ‘amateurs’

Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago on Monday said she is prepared to question the creation of the Truth Commission, the newly formed panel that will investigate alleged irregularities under the Arroyo administration, before the Supreme Court. At a press briefing, Santiago said Executive Order No. 1, which formalizes the creation of the commission, is “a usurpation of legislative function and we in the legislative branch have a duty to oppose that kind of usurpation." Santiago said she was “extremely disappointed to the point of ill-health" at the “very shallow legal preparation" of the people in the Aquino administration who conceptualized the Truth Commission. “Efforts to explain its constitutionality are very sophomoric. In other words, it’s a bunch of amateurs trying to justify what they are doing," the feisty lawmaker said. Santiago, a lawyer by profession, said at least two Supreme Court rulings had stated that the creation of agencies is solely the function of the legislature, and that the Truth Commission is a “gross" violation of the separation of the three branches of government. Santiago has filed an indefinite leave from the Senate due to chronic fatigue, but briefly attended the session on Monday supposedly to witness the selection of committee chairs. She urged President Benigno Aquino III to withdraw the EO before the issue is brought to the Supreme Court. “Why risk the embarrassment of being overturned by the Supreme Court in the first EO?" she said. A day before, a confident Aquino challenged critics of the Truth Commission to question it before the high court. Santiago suspected that the Aquino administration is disappointed with Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez, who is closely associated with former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, but could not remove her from post as she has a fixed seven-year term. The Truth Commission is supposed to perform tasks that are parallel with those of the Ombudsman. - Jerry M. Abella/KBK, GMANews.TV