MANILA, Philippines - Reiterating that there must be justice first before reconciliation, President Aquino gave his “marching orders” to Justice Secretary Leila de Lima yesterday to “begin the process of providing true and complete justice for all.”
The President also announced that former chief justice Hilario Davide Jr. had agreed to head an independent Truth Commission tasked to investigate the unresolved anomalies of the Arroyo administration, particularly the botched $329-million broadband deal with China’s ZTE Corp.
De Lima was head of the Commission on Human Rights
before her appointment to the Department of Justice.
“We are pleased to share with you Davide’s acceptance of the challenge to form and lead a Truth Commission that would shed light on unresolved controversies,” Aquino said in Filipino in his 23-minute inaugural speech.
“Whoever commits misdeeds should face justice. We cannot continue having a system without accountability,” Aquino continued.
“To those who are talking about reconciliation, if they mean that they would like us to simply forget about the wrongs that they have committed in the past, we have this to say: There can be no reconciliation without justice,” he said.
“To those who have wronged me, I can forgive you and I have forgiven you already. To those who have wronged the people, I have no right to forget your transgressions. Turning a blind eye on misdeeds will breed more misdeeds),” he said to loud and long applause.
Vow of impartiality
Davide vowed to accomplish his job as Truth Commission head with objectivity and impartiality despite being the one who swore in Mrs. Arroyo as president in 2001.
“There is no such thing as loyalty to a party or to a person. It’s only loyalty to the institution,” Davide said in a brief interview.
“The nature of the work assigned to you will define exactly how you do it,” he said.
“He (Aquino) really believes that I can do something. I could really be very impartial and objective,” Davide said.
President Aquino wants the Truth Commission to be “collators of data, evidence, proof as to who committed what and what transgression of our laws was committed.”
It was Mr. Aquino’s mother who appointed Davide to the Supreme Court on Jan. 24, 1991.
In January 2006, he was Mrs. Arroyo’s senior presidential adviser on electoral reforms before his appointment as ambassador and permanent representative of the Philippines to the United Nations in New York City in February 2007.
He was elected vice chairman of the UN’s Economic and Social Council. He resigned last April 1 ostensibly to help in his son’s campaign for Cebu governor. His son lost the election.
Help from DOJ
The DOJ and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) are ready to extend help to the Truth Commission.
“It would be up to former chief justice Davide. The government will provide him with whatever he needs,” presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda told reporters in his first press briefing yesterday afternoon.
De Lima said DOJ prosecutors or NBI agents would be on hand to provide the former chief magistrate all the support he would need.
A memorandum order creating the Truth Commission is forthcoming, said Lacierda.
Lacierda also defended President Aquino’s appointment of Davide.
“The fact that President Aquino appointed him means that he believes in the integrity and impartiality of the former chief justice,” the spokesman stressed.
De Lima made the same pitch. “What is important is that there is already a commission.”
With regard to the possibility that Mrs. Arroyo, who is now a congresswoman representing the second district of Pampanga, would be investigated and charged, De Lima replied: “She has to answer the charges, and of course, due process will be followed.”
Wrong choice
Former President Joseph Estrada, meanwhile, said Davide was the wrong man to head the Truth Commission.
In an interview with radio station dzBB, Estrada said Davide might show bias for Mrs. Arroyo because it was she who appointed him to the UN.
“I disagree with one of his appointments, the appointment of Justice Davide. I think he is the wrong man for the post because he was responsible for placing GMA to power. He will be biased because having been appointed as UN ambassador was his great debt of gratitude to GMA,” Estrada said.
Estrada said Davide was also among those responsible for his ouster in 2001.
Vice President Jejomar Binay voiced his wish for Davide’s success. “God bless him. All the best,” Binay said. With Edu Punay and Jose Rodel Clapano
Source: Delon Porcalla (The Philippine Star)
