Palace asks SC to reconsider ruling on truth body

(Updated 5:52 p.m.) Refusing to give up on one of President Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III's biggest campaign promises, Malacañang has formally asked the Supreme Court to reconsider its decision to void Executive Order No. 1 creating the Truth Commission. Solicitor General Jose Anselmo Cadiz personally went to the Supreme Court at around 4:50 p.m. Thursday to file the 60-page motion for reconsideration. The Supreme Court struck down EO 1 for supposedly violating the equal protection clause provided by the 1987 Constitution because the truth body allegedly targets only the corruption scandals that hounded the Arroyo government. Malacañang, in its motion, denied singling out the previous administration. No discrimination "First, the plain language of EO No. 1 shows that there is no intent to unfairly discriminate against the previous administration. Second, EO. No. 1 does not single out individuals but refers to questionable transactions during the Arroyo regime," part of the motion read. The Palace also said the equal protection clause does not cover the creation of fact-finding inquiries because "such investigations do not create rights or impose obligations." Malacañang added that because the Supreme Court ruled that a President "has the power to investigate to ensure that laws are faithfully executed, the high tribunal cannot prescribe the subject, purpose, and manner of such investigation." The establishment of a Truth Commission was one of Aquino's biggest campaign promises, and the decision of the Supreme Court — 14 out of 15 members of which are Arroyo appointees — to strike it down came as a blow to the nearly six-month-old administration, which described the high court's decision as a setback to its reform efforts. Exhausting all legal remedies Cadiz explained that Malacañang chose to file a motion for reconsideration instead of amending EO 1 because "we believe that the EO is correct in every respect." "I don't think we have to amend it," he said. In a press statement issued earlier in the day, Executive Secretary Paquito "Jojo" Ochoa Jr. said Malacanang decided to file a motion for reconsideration because it wants to exhaust all legal remedies before taking other actions. “We will attempt to make our case before the High Court before we look at other options with regard to investigating the alleged acts of corruption mentioned in the said EO," Ochoa said. Among the other options earlier considered by Malacañang were:

amending EO No. 1 to include other past administrations; and

letting the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) take on investigations on graft scandals in the Arroyo government as advised by former Court of Appeals associate justice and incumbent presidential assistant for foreign affairs Magdangal Elma. — with Jam L. Sisante/RSJ/KBK, GMANews.TV