SC: Revision of EO 1 may save Truth Commission

A revision of Executive Order 1 to include other past administrations in the scope of its investigation may save the Truth Commission. The Supreme Court made this suggestion to President Benigno Aquino III’s government in its ruling which declared as unconstitutional the Truth Commission set up to prosecute former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo for corruption. “This is not the death knell for a truth commission as nobly envisioned by the present administration. Perhaps a revision of the executive issuance so as to include the earlier past administrations would allow it to pass the test of reasonableness and not be an affront to the Constitution," the decision read. The ruling, penned by Associate Justice Jose Mendoza, junked the Aquino administration’s first executive order because it supposedly violated the equal protection clause of the Constitution for defining the Truth Commission’s work to focus only on Arroyo-era controversies. “The intent to single out the previous administration is plain, patent and manifest," the high court said in its ruling. The SC likewise said that the “discriminating" and “arbitrary" focus on the Arroyo administration makes the Truth Commission only a means to get back at the former President. “Not to include past administrations similarly situated constitutes arbitrariness which the equal protection clause cannot sanction. Such discriminating differentiation clearly reverberates to label the commission as a vehicle for vindictiveness and selective retribution," the ruling read. The high court also told officials of the Aquino administration, particularly Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr. and Budget Secretary Florencio Abad as respondents in the SC case, to explain to the public why they chose “to limit the scope of the intended investigation to the previous administration only." The SC likewise clarified in its ruling that the decision to declare EO 1 as unconstitutional is not an attempt to hide the truth from the public. “Of all the branches of the government, it is the judiciary which is the most interested in knowing the truth and so it will not allow itself to be a hindrance or obstacle to its attainment. It must, however, be emphasized that the search for the truth must be within constitutional bounds for ours is still a government of laws and not of men," it said. By declaring EO 1 as unconstitutional, the SC also directed the Aquino government to “cease and desist" from enabling the Truth Commission to perform its duties. The five-man Truth body, headed by former Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr., was created last July in response to President Aquino’s campaign platform to eliminate corruption in the government under his administration. The commission was supposed to investigate 20 corruption and cheating scandals during the Arroyo administration, including the botched $329-million national broadband network deal, the $728-million fertilizer fund scam and the “Hello Garci" election scandal.—JV, GMANews.TV