Duterte forms anti-corruption committee

An executive order forming the Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission was signed by President Rodrigo Duterte against corrupt public officers. (PCOO PHOTO)

An executive order forming the Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission was signed by President Rodrigo Duterte against corrupt public officers.

The Executive order No. 43 was signed by Duterte on October 4.

“There is a need to create a separate commission under the Office of the President solely dedicated to providing assistance to the President in the investigation and hearing of administrative cases and complaints, and in the conduct of lifestyle checks and/or fact-finding inquiries concerning presidential appointees and other public officers allegedly involved in graft and corrupt practices, or have committed other higher crimes and/or violations of the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees,” the President’s executive order read.

The EO stated that the body would have “power, on a complaint, or motu proprio, and concurrently with the Office of the Ombudsman to hear, investigate, receive, gather, and evaluate evidence, intelligence reports, and information in administrative cases against all presidential appointees.”

Upon the instructions of the President, the EO states that the commission may also probe appointees in the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine National Police (PNP).

“The commission may conduct lifestyle checks and fact-finding inquiries on acts or omissions of all presidential appointees, including those outside the executive branch of government, which may be violative of the Constitution, or contrary to law, rules and regulations, and/or constitute serious misconduct tantamount to betrayal of public trust,” the EO added.

The panel shall also submit its report and recommended courses of action to the President on the basis of such fact-finding inquiries.

Upon the filing of a complaint or charge, the commission may recommend to the President the issuance of an order of preventive suspension “when the circumstances of the investigation warrant the same, such as when the charges are punishable with removal from the service or when respondent’s continued stay in office will prejudice the fair determination of the case.”

According to the EO, the commission and its personnel shall not disclose or make public any record or information in connection with any investigation “when such disclosure will deprive the respondent of his/her right to a fair and impartial investigation of the case.”

The body will compose of a chairman and four commissioners to be appointed by the President. Most of the members of the panel must be lawyers who have been in practice for at least 5 years.

The Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission was formed amid Duterte’s accusations of corruption and “selective justice” against Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales and other officials of the anti-graft agency.