Author Topic: Leila De Lima Not Happy of Dissolution of Truth Commission  (Read 626 times)

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Leila De Lima Not Happy of Dissolution of Truth Commission
« on: December 08, 2010, 10:01:19 PM »
By Perfecto T. Raymundo Jr.

MANILA, Dec. 8 (PNA) - Department of Justice (DOJ) Secretary Leila De Lima voiced out on Wednesday what some sectors said in the past that former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo "packed the Supreme Court (SC) with her appointees who will help get her off the hook" for alleged graft and corruption during her nine-year administration.

In a press statement, De Lima could not hide her disappointment over the decision of the High Court nullifying the Truth Commission.

President Benigno S. Aquino III issued Executive Order No. 1 creating the Truth Commission on July 30.

To be headed by former SC Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr., it was tasked to investigate reports of alleged anomalies during the Arroyo administration such as the botched US$ 329-million NBN-ZTE deal and the P728-million fertilizer fund scam, among others.

By a vote of 10-5 on Tuesday, the SC declared EO 1 as "unconstitutional."

The DOJ chief said it "shows characteristics of a political decision."

De Lima said there is basis for the speculations "that the investment of the past administration in the Office of the Ombudsman and the High Court is now paying off, as present executive actions to correct injustices and abuses of the past regime and to punish the perpetrators are frustrated at every turn."

She called it a "wise institutional investment of the past regime."

De Lima specifically noted Arroyo's appointment of Chief Justice Renato Corona "despite the ban on appointments."

The SC had already decided on this matter, saying in March this year that appointments to the Court are not included in the so-called "midnight appointment ban" during an election year.

This decision allowed then President Arroyo to appoint then Associate Justice Renato Corona as the 23rd Chief Justice of the highest court of the land.

De Lima said that the SC voting had become predictable.

She noted that it is the Constitution itself that provides to prevent a single president from packing the SC with only his or her appointees.

Of the 15 SC justices, only Associate Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno was appointed by President Aquino.

Sereno is one of the five justices who dissented in the decision.

However, De Lima admitted that "unfortunately, the loophole in the Constitution prevailed when former President Arroyo appointed the majority of the present Court."

On the SC's argument that the Truth Commission violated equal protection rights, De Lima said: "Equal protection applies within a class, not between a few who stole and abused, and the many from whom they stole and whom they abused."

She noted that the violation in this clause of the Constitution is, in fact, when "the privileged few are effectively exempted from investigation, prosecution and punishment, while the great majority of the people continue to wallow in the murk of their crimes."

Despite her criticisms, De Lima stressed "we still fervently hope…that this was not the primary consideration in this decision of the Court, and that the considerations were always legal and constitutional, as they should be."

In a text message, SC Spokesman and Court Administrator Atty. Jose Midas Marquez said: "The public must understand that in holding EO 1 as unconstitutional, the Court is not ruling in favor of or against any party, but is merely applying the provisions and principles of the Constitution, which is in accordance with the Court's mandate and responsibility and the rule of law." - pna

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Re: Leila De Lima Not Happy of Dissolution of Truth Commission
« Reply #1 on: December 08, 2010, 10:20:47 PM »
Sayang, gi-bwenas napod si Ate!

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