(Eagle News) — President Rodrigo Duterte has issued an executive order creating an anti-corruption body that will complement the Office of the Ombudsman.
The body—which will be under the Office of the President—will be called the Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission, based on EO 43.
According to the EO, the commission will “directly assist the President in investigating and/or hearing administrative cases primarily involving graft and corruption against all presidential appointees..”
It shall “have the power…, concurrently with the Office of the Ombudsman, to hear, investigate, to receive, gather and evaluate evidence, intelligence reports and information in administrative cases against all presidential appointees in the executive branch of government and any of its agencies or instrumentalities occupying the position of assistant regional director or an equivalent rank and higher…”
The body will also cover members of the “governing board of any instrumentality, regulatory agency, or chartered institution, and directors or officers, appointees or nominees of the President to government–owned and -controlled corporations..”
“Upon instructions of the president, the commission may investigate presidential appointees in the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police whenever he deems it necessary or appropriate…(It) may also conduct lifestyle checks and fact-finding inquiries or acts or omissions of all presidential appointees, including those outside the executive branch, which may be violative of the Constitution..,” the EO said.
The body will also have the power to recommend to the President the issuance of an order of preventive suspension upon the filing of a complaint or charge against someone, and the power to summon government personnel and records.
In essence, the “investigative, recommendatory, and other incidental functions of the defunct Presidential Anti-Graft Commission, which were transferred to the Office of the Deputy Executive Secretary for Legal Affairs by virtue of EO. No. 13..shall be transferred to the commission.”
The ODESLA, the EO said, “shall retain its functions of formulating national anti-corruption plans, policies and strategies implementing anti-corruption initiatives of the government..”
On the basis of its investigation, the commission shall then submit a report to the President on its recommended courses of action.
Composition
According to the EO, the body will be composed of a chairman–who will have the “rank, emoluments and privileges of a presidential assistant” and will “preside over meetings of the commission, and direct and supervise the implementation of policies, rules and regulations promulgated by the body” — and four commissioners.
They will be appointed by the President.
“Majority of the members of the commission shall be members of the Philippine Bar and must have been engaged in the practice of law in the Philippines for at least five years,” the EO said.
The EO added the body shall have a secretariat, which shall “provide technical and administrative support” to the commission.
It added it was the chairman of the body who has the “authority to appoint, promote and discipline” personnel of the secretariat.
The secretariat’s head, the executive director, shall be appointed by the President upon the chair’s recommendation.
According to the EO, the executive director–who has ” the rank, emoluments and privileges of an assistant secretary”— shall, “under the control and supervision of the chairman, execute and administer the policies and decisions of the commission and manage the day-to-day operations thereof.”
The EO added the commission, “subject to the applicable provisions of the General Appropriations Act and other pertinent laws, rules and regulations, organize and set in operation such organizational units as may be necessary” for the performance of commission’s powers and functions.
Budget
The initial budget of the body “shall be determined in coordination with the Department of Budget and Management and submitted to the Office of the President for approval.”
“Appropriations for the succeeding years shall be incorporated in the budget proposal for the Office of the President,” the EO said.