today’s news on the senate’s proposed truth commission:
Those being eyed as members of the Truth Commission are former Senator Wigberto Tañada, former Chief Justice Hilario Davide, and Ateneo School of Government Dean Antonio La Viña.
hmmmm. bakit nawala si reynato puno who was on an earlier list? because he’s known to be an oppositionist? better him, methinks, than davide, whose son, the current governor of cebu, is a liberal party stalwart. as for tañada, umm, the last i heard, correct me if i’m wrong (or if it’s no longer true), he was with the legal dept of a powerful media conglomerate that owes the aquino family big time and is quite protective of the status quo. la viña sounds good though, unless he’s connected directly or by family or some affinity with the executive department or the police or the military.
and i so disagree with speaker belmonte that congress is the proper party to conduct the investigation.
“…The Congress has inherent powers… We have the process, rules, everything is in place. We are the proper party, not some retired justices,” Belmonte said in a chance interview with reporters.
…Belmonte said the House leadership is now amenable with the House Committee on Public Order and Safety conducting a probe on the incident. He reiterated, though, that he would prefer that the committee conduct a joint probe with its counterpart committee in the Senate headed by Sen. Grace Poe.
excuse me, mr. speaker, and senator poe na rin, congress has no credibility to speak of. but the speaker is right, let not the truth commission be composed only of lawyers. let all sectors of society, left, right, and center, be represented by free agents — beholden to no one in government — and known for their intelligence, independence, and probity.
I agree with your concerns. It’s like every person with an agenda wants his own investigation, and objectivity is something very different. I think, however, that it will be hard to find people of stature who are also considered untainted by political bias. The goal should be to have a good variety of biases, and none that are too extreme. If they are of good character, and intelligent, most will bring some “principles” to the discussion that others consider bias. Balance them out. They will provoke the kind of rich discussion needed.
What is your criteria for membership in the Truth Commission?
Even if the findings of the Truth Commission are credible, I still believe it is already the end of the road for BIFF& MILF to give them our trust and confidence that they will honor and respect the legality of our police and military forces to execute their mandated duty by our Constitution to protect and secure the safety of our citizens peaceful lives. Therefore, I do not find the rationality and need for such Commission to extract the persons responsible for this maassacre. It is obvious, our govt is not in control in the decision policy which favors he Malaysian supported panels to the disadvanage to our soverein interests. NO to BBL and all Malaysian sponsored talks.