SUPREME COURT REJECTS ORAL ARGUMENT FOR PALACE APPEAL ON EO 1
MANILA, FEBRUARY 28, 2011 (STAR) By Edu Punay - The Supreme Court (SC) turned down Malacañang's bid for an oral argument on its appeal over the decision nullifying the executive order creating the Truth Commission.
In a two-page resolution released last Friday, the SC said there is no need for oral argument since the motion for reconsideration filed by the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) and the corresponding comment of petitioners – House Minority Leader and Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman and businessman Louis Biraogo - would suffice.
The high court dismissed the motion of the Office of the Solicitor General for oral argument and appointment of an amici curiae (friend of the court) to assist the justices in resolving the earlier motion seeking reconsideration of its Dec. 7, 2010 ruling declaring Executive Order 1 unconstitutional.
Among the respondents in the case were Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr., Budget Secretary Florencio Abad and members of the Truth Commission led by former chief justice Hilario Davide Jr.
Malacañang, through the OSG, insisted that the oral argument and the appointment of amici curiae are necessary to "ensure that the parties' positions are fully elucidated" before the Court makes its final ruling on the case.
The motion for reconsideration filed by Solicitor General Joel Cadiz last Dec. 23 contested the SC ruling that declared EO 1 was violative of the constitutional clause of equal protection.
Cadiz argued the executive order does not distinguish or discriminate anyone from being subject of its probe.
The SC said EO 1 violated the equal protection clause because the government failed to justify why it singled out the administration of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in the scope of its probe.
President Aquino signed EO 1 creating the Truth Commission, which he said would put "closure" to the allegations of graft and corruption against Arroyo and her officials during her nine-year administration.
The EO created the five-man commission led by Davide that will "investigate allegations of anomalies during the last nine years" of the Arroyo administration.
Lagman led the petition in questioning the legality of the EO, which the SC eventually granted.
"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 SC said in its ruling last Dec. 7.
Malacañang argued that it limited the scope of EO 1 so as to prevent overburdening the commission that might result in losing its effectiveness.
"The reason given is specious. It is without doubt irrelevant to the legitimate and noble objective of the PTC to stamp out or "end corruption and the evil it breeds."
SC said the commission must have the authority to investigate all past administrations, not only Arroyo's.
"While reasonable prioritization is permitted, it should not be arbitrary lest it be struck down for being unconstitutional," the court said.
The SC had clarified in the 49-page decision the possibility of allowing the Truth Commission if the Palace revised the executive order that created it by adopting the points raised by the high court in its Dec. 7 decision.
"Perhaps a revision of the executive issuance so as to include the earlier past administrations would allow it to pass the test of reasonableness," the SC said.
Palace officials earlier said they are mulling to comply with the SC order by issuing another EO to comply with the requirement should the ruling become final.
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