Palace gets veteran Cory lawyer to boost legal team

President Benigno Aquino III is giving his embattled legal team a hoped-for boost with the addition of retired Court of Appeals justice Magdangal Elma, who was also part of the legal team of the late former president Corazon Aquino. In an interview with reporters Thursday, Aquino said Elma, presidential assistant for special concerns, is now part of his legal team that is currently led by Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr. and Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Eduardo de Mesa. Elma's entry came at a time when Malacañang's legal team has been getting intense flak for what critics say are defects in its legal issuances, some of which, like Memorandum Circular No. 1 and Proclamation No. 50, had to be quickly amended to remove ambiguities. The most recent blow to the Malacañang legal team was the Supreme Court's decision to declare as unconstitutional Executive Order No. 1, which creates the Truth Commission that will investigate corruption scandals in the nine-year Arroyo administration. Elma had taken his oath as presidential assistant for special concerns more than two weeks ago. "He and a lot of others have been assisting us informally. Finormalize lang natin yung assistance nila [We just formalized their assistance]," Aquino said. Elma is not new to dispensing legal advice to presidents, having served as deputy executive secretary, acting executive secretary, and presidential assistant on legal and judicial affairs during the administration of Mrs. Aquino, President Aquino's mother. He also served as chief presidential legal counsel and chairman of the Presidential Commission on Good Government during the Joseph Estrada administration. In a phone interview, De Mesa said retired Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr., chairman of the Truth Commission, other commission members, and Solicitor General Joel Cadiz are also helping the legal team decide on its next move now that the SC has declared EO 1 unconstitutional. Earlier on Thursday, Malacañang had junked suggestions to overhaul its presidential legal team, with Presidential Communications Operations Office head Herminio Coloma Jr. insisting that Aquino still trusts his legal team. (See: Palace rejects calls for PNoy to overhaul legal team) Revising EO to 'include Aguinaldo presidency' Legal analysts identify at least two options that Malacañang may adopt to assert the legality of the Truth Commission. One is to file a motion for reconsideration with the SC. Another is to issue an amended executive order that will expand the Truth Commission's mandate to investigate corruption scandals not just during Arroyo’s presidency, but also in previous administrations, which the SC insists is required to satisfy the Constitution’s equal protection clause. In its decision declaring EO 1 unconstitutional, the SC suggested that revising the order to include other past administrations may yet save the Truth Commission. "Yung sinasabi na mali sa EO is that the past administration has been singled out. So kung lalawakan ang scope kasama kay [Emilio] Aguinaldo, puwede na?" De Mesa said with just a slight tinge of sarcasm. (Supposedly, the EO’s defect is that the past administration has been singled out. So if we expand the scope to include Aguinaldo's presidency, would that do?) Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo was the first president of the Philippine Republic, serving in that capacity from 1897 until his capture by the U.S. occupation army in 1901.—JV, GMANews.TV