BAYAN Muna party-list Rep. Neri Colmenares concedes that the power to appoint members of the proposed “Mamasapano Truth Commission” is vested solely on the President.
This is sort of a bitter pill to swallow for the lawmaker, who along with his colleagues in the militant Makabayan Bloc have been wary of an Aquino administration-ordered whitewash on the bloody January 25 siege.
“The legislative and the judiciary can’t appoint members of the commission. It’s always the executive that’s why all commissions are appointed by the President,” admitted Colmenares.
Earlier, the Makabayan lawmakers sought through House Bill (HB) 5462 the creation of a truth commission that would “thoroughly investigate, report and evaluate all facts and circumstances” regarding the Special Action Force (SAF)-led mission in Mamasapano, Maguindanao.
The measure provides that President Benigno Aquino III would pick the three members of the independent body, namely the chairman and two commissioners.
“We’ll just make it difficult for him to appoint his lapdogs,” Colmenares said.
The politiko was among the Minority solons who tried to have Aquino summoned by Congress in order for him to reveal everything that he knew about the Mamasapano incident, which resulted to the brutal death of 44 SAF commandos. (Randy K. Ortega)
