SC to hear oral arguments on Truth Commission EO

MANILA, Philippines - The Supreme Court will be conducting oral arguments later Tuesday on two separate petitions questioning the constitutionality of President Aquino's Executive Order No.1 creating the Truth Commission.

Petitions were filed by Louis Biraogo and minority representative Edcel Lagman.

The Court will give each party 30 minutes to present their arguments, after which they will be interpellated by members of the Court.

The High Bench has directed all parties to focus their discussions on the following issues:

(1) Whether or not Executive Order No. 1 suffers from constitutional infirmities which warrant the invalidation of the Philippine Truth Commission of 2010;

1.a whether or not EO 1 creating Philippine Truth Commission of 2010 violates the principle of separation of powers by usurping the powers of Congress to create public offices, agencies, and commissions and to appropriate public funds;

1.b whether or not EO 1 violates the equal protection clause of the 1987 Constitution because it limits the jurisdiction of the Philippine Truth Commission to officials and employees of the "previous administration" (i.e. the administration of former Pres. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo);

1.c whether or not EO 1 supplants the constitutionality mandated powers of the Office of the Ombudsman as provided as provided in the Constitution and

(2) Whether or not the petitioners are entitled to the relief demanded;

2.a whether or not the implementation of EO 1 and the creation of the Philippine Truth Commission of 2010 will result to grave injustice and irreparable damage to petitioners, and

2.b whether or not the operation of EO 1 and the creation of the Philippine Truth Commission of 2010 would probably violate the rights of petitioner Biraogo as a taxpayer, and petitioner Lagman et al as members of Congress

Ina Reformina, ABS-CBN News