No stopping truth body, in law, public opinion —Palace By Aytch S. de la Cruz and Angie M. Rosales 08/03/2010

Senator: Noy usurping Congress powers No stopping truth body, in law, public opinion —Palace By Aytch S. de la Cruz and Angie M. Rosales 08/03/2010 Malacañang stood pat on the alleged legal basis that founded President Aquino Executive Order No.1, creating the Truth Commission, last Friday despite the slew of criticisms issued by lawmakers from both the House of Representatives and the Senate on the matter over the weekend. Two of Aquino’s Communications Group (ComGroup) officials, in separate radio interviews yesterday, underscored that the truth body remains independent, stemming from the authority of the President, saying it is inappropriate to say that his office is trying to usurp the powers of either of its co-equal branches, the legislative and the judiciary, with his decision to establish the truth commission through an EO. ComGroup information dissemination unit head, Secretary Herminio “Sonny” Coloma, nonetheless admitted that until now some of the policies with respect to the rules of procedures by the Truth Commission remain unclear pending its draft to be issued by its chairman, former Supreme Court Chief Justice Hilario Davide, Jr. Coloma said the full construction of the Truth Commission is now under process with the ongoing reviews on the qualification of the nominees who would fill up its staffing requirements as stated under the EO’s Section 3. He, however, added that even as the nation awaits the rules of procedure to be outlined by Davide, it is deemed that the Truth Commission has already started on its mandate which would eventually lead to the conduct of public hearings on the graft cases to be filed against the officials of the previous administration.... MORE Source:  The Daily Tribune URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20100803hed1.html

HEADLINES No stopping truth body, in law, public opinion —Palace Junk Roxas’ poll protest, VP asks PET Gov’t still has to pay Piatco for ‘just compensation’ Gov’t fails at PAL mediation job; airline to cut flights Noy alerted on graft cases against allies — Palace No panel for Santiago as LP corners postings