EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 150
EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 150 - CREATING
THE PRESIDENTIAL BLUE RIBBON COMMISSION AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES
WHEREAS,
the resources of government institutions such as the Philippine
National Bank, Philippine Veterans Bank, Development Bank of the
Philippines, National Development Company, and the Philippine Export
and Foreign Loan Guarantee Corporation among others have been
dissipated by “behest” loan guarantees, credits and other financial
accommodations obtained by persons and corporations associated with
former President Ferdinand E. Marcos;
WHEREAS, it is imperative that a thorough investigation be conducted to
determine the liability, whether civil or criminal, of individuals and
corporations involved in the grant and/or acquisition of these loans
and to prosecute those responsible therefor;
NOW, THEREFORE, I, CORAZON C. AQUINO, President of the Philippines, by
virtue of the powers vested in me by the Constitution of the Republic,
do hereby order:
Section 1. There is hereby created a Commission, to
be known as the Presidential Blue Ribbon Commission, composed of a
Chairman and two members.
Sec. 2. The Commission is hereby empowered to
admit other officials of the government as its members and to assemble
from any government office the staff that may be necessary to carry out
the purposes for which the Commission is created.
The Commission is likewise authorized to appoint such persons of
integrity and moral character from the private sector as resource
persons, investigators and fiscals of known integrity from the
Department of Justice and its prosecuting arm, the Office of the
Solicitor General, the Tanodbayan and any other government office.
In the recruitment of resource persons, the Commission shall exercise
extreme care to ensure that such resource persons have no connections
whatsoever with any of the corporations or individuals subject to the
investigation.
All persons who have been engaged by the Commission to perform any
functions in connection with the work of the Commission who may
thereafter be separated from the Commission shall be disqualified from
representing in any capacity whatsoever, directly or indirectly, any of
the entities or persons investigated by the Commission before any
court, tribunal, or office.
Sec. 3. The Commission is hereby charged with the
task of investigating the circumstances surrounding the grant or
approval of loans, guarantees, credits, and other financial
accommodations or corporations associated with former President
Ferdinand E. Marcos by government-owned, or controlled institutions and
identifying the individuals responsible therefor. The Chairman of the
Commission shall make a monthly progress report to Cabinet.
Sec. 4. The Rules of Procedure governing the
conduct of the investigation promulgated by the Office of the President
shall be complied with by the Commission and its conclusions pursuant
thereto regarding the existence of probable cause for the Commission of
any offense and of the persons probably guilty of the same shall be
sufficient compliance with the rules on preliminary investigation and
the charges arising from therefrom may be filed directly with the
proper court.
Sec. 5. On the basis of its findings, the
Commission shall file the appropriate information with the proper court
against the individuals who may be guilty of the offense, including
officers, directors, and employees of the government institutions who
may have facilitated the grant or approval of the loans, guarantees and
other credits; directors, officers and employees of the firms which
were the beneficiaries of these loans, guarantees and other credits; as
well as any other individual who may have facilitated or, in any other
manner, benefited from the same.
Sec. 6. Subject to the provisions of Section 12
hereof, the Commission may likewise file the necessary civil complaint
with the proper court against the corporation involved and prosecute
the same for the purpose of recovery and/or collection.
Sec. 7. In order to effectively exercise such
jurisdiction, the Commission shall have the following powers and
functions:
a)
To administer oaths and issue subpoenas requiring
the attendance and testimony of witnesses and/or the production of such
books, papers, contracts, records, statement of accounts and other
documents as may be material to the investigation being conducted by
the Commission, notwithstanding provisions of law to the contrary;
b) to enjoin
or restrain any actual or threatened commission of acts by any person
or entity that may render moot and academic or otherwise make
ineffectual the efforts of the Commission to carry out its mandate
under this Executive Order;
c) to
recommend the issuance of hold departure orders against those
individuals who, on the basis of the documents submitted to the
Commission by the government institutions for investigation, appear to
have participated in the grant, approval or acquisition of the loans,
guarantees or other credits or who may have facilitated the grant or
approval of the same, to the Office of the President;
d) to hold
any person in direct or indirect contempt and to impose the appropriate
penalties in accordance with the pertinent provisions of the rules of
court;
e) to enlist
the aid and support of any office, agency or instrumentality of the
government and to deputize, at its discretion, the National Bureau of
Investigation, the Criminal Investigation Service of the Philippine
Constabulary and any other law enforcing agency to assist in the
performance of the Commission’s duties;
f) to
exercise such other powers as may be implied from or which are
necessary or incidental to the carrying out of the express powers
granted herein to achieve the objectives and purposes of this Order;
g) to adopt
and promulgate such other rules to supplement the rules of procedure
promulgated by the Office of the President, provided that the pertinent
provisions of the Rules of Court and Presidential Decree No. 77 shall
apply suppletorily to the conduct of the investigation and, provided
finally, that the Commission shall not be bound strictly by the
technical rules of procedures.
Sec. 8. The Commission or any of its officers,
members or staff shall not be subject to any civil action for any act
done or omitted to be done in good faith in the discharge of the
functions of the Commission.
Sec. 9. Notwithstanding any provision of law to
the contrary, no action shall lie against any officer, employee or
agent of any government-owned or controlled institution for disclosing
any information to or producing any documents before the Commission
which may initiate or be material to the investigation.
Sec. 10. No member or staff of the Commission
shall be required to testify or produce evidence in any judicial,
legislative or administrative proceeding concerning matters within its
official cognizance.
Sec. 11. There shall be a Chief Operating Officer
who shall be in-charge of the secretariat and the investigators and
fiscals as well as the resource persons from the private sector
assisting the Commission in the conduct of the investigation. There
shall also be a Special Counsel to the Commission who shall provide
legal assistance in the investigation and evaluation of documents and
persons who may be guilty of any offense.
Sec. 12. The Commission and the Presidential
Commission on Good Government shall coordinate so that the authority of
the latter to recover the ill-gotten wealth of the former President,
his immediate family, close relatives, cronies, business associates and
subordinates, to investigate and prosecute cases in connection
therewith under Executive Order Nos. 1, 2, 14 and 14-A remains
unimpaired and preserved.
Sec. 13. All non-government personnel who may be
employed by the Commission shall be on a contractual basis and may be
terminated at the discretion of the Commission. Government personnel
who may be assembled by the Commission to assist in its functions may,
at the discretion of the Commission, receive allowances or honoraria
for their efforts.
Sec. 14. The initial amount of FIVE MILLION
PESOS, or so much thereof as may be needed to carry out the purposes of
this Order, is hereby set aside out of the funds of the National
Treasury and made available for expenditure by the Commission.
Thereafter, such other amounts as may necessary to complete the work of
the Commission shall, subject to availability of funds, be set aside
out of the funds of the National Treasury upon request of the
Commission.
Sec. 15. This Executive Order shall take effect
immediately.
Done in the City of Manila,
this 19th day of March, in the year of Our Lord, nineteen hundred and
eighty-seven.
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Since 19.07.98.