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WHISTLEBLOWERS PARTNERSHIPWITH

PRESIDENTIAL COMMISSION ON GOOD G OVERNMENT (PCGG) and/or Truth Commission

17 December 2010

President BENIGNO AQUINO III

Thru: Justice MAGDANGAL B. ELMA

Dear President Aquino:

This concerns the Corona Court s decision to sabotage the Truth Commission.While there have been many criticisms about the lack of due diligence in thepreparation of the Truth Commission, and the questionable integrity of itsChairman, what is certain now is that whistleblowers are not giving up on whatthey have been fighting for, whatever the forum may be.

Genuine whistleblowers are at the battle front of anti-corruption, enduringpersecutions during the dark days of the Arroyo regime. Some whistleblowersfell by the storm of assassination bullets. The masterminds are still in power.Some of the surviving genuine whistleblowers have a track record of savingseveral Billion Pesos for the government. Many among us whistleblowers were

your supporters when you were campaigning for President. When you finallybecame President, we did not receive a single reward from you, and yet we didnot and will not stop in our crusade against the atrocities and plunders of theprevious regime. We are not inventing stories when we talk about billions of pesos of plunder. We mean what we say. We can give you rock hard evidence,if you wish. More importantly, we want to convince others who are alreadyholding the whistle but still too afraid to blow because the previous regimeis still very much in power until today, despite your Presidency. Therefore wepropose a high-impact strategy, standing on solid legal ground, where proven

whistleblowers and anti-corruption N ON -G OVERNMENT O RGANIZATIONS (NGO) willassist the PCGG and/or Truth Commission. The proposal has built-in legalfeatures ready to withstand the next attack by the Corona Court. Please see inthe attachment a draft of this proposal consisting of three components:

S HA ME C AMPAIGN TRANSPARENCY ACTION COUNCIL (SHACATAC),L IBEL S HIELD FOR L IFE S TYLE C HECK INVESTIGATORS (LISLISCIN), and

P UBLIC P RIVATE P ARTNERSHIP R ESEARCH ASSISTANCE FOR THE T RUTH C OMMISSION (PPPRATC).

May we request a meeting with a technical working group to discuss the detailsof this proposal? Thank you and sincerely yours, we are:

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DOJ = Department of Justice

PCGG = Presidential Commission on Good Government

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Republic of the Philippines

MalacaangManila

DRAFT EXECUTIVE ORDER ____

Launching theS HA ME C AMPAIGN TRANSPARENCY ACTION COUNCIL (SHACATAC),

L IBEL S HIELD FOR L IFE S TYLE C HECK INVESTIGATORS (LISLISCIN), andP UBLIC P RIVATE P ARTNERSHIP R ESEARCH ASSISTANCE FOR THE T RUTH C OMMISSION (PPPRATC).

WHEREAS several provisions in the Constitution mandate the observance of

transparency in public service, such as:

(A) Article II, Section 24: The State recognizes the vital role of communication and information in nation-building.

(B) Article II, Section 27: The State shall maintain honesty and integrity inthe public service and take positive and effective measures against graftand corruption.

(C) Article II, Section 28: Subject to reasonable conditions prescribed bylaw, the State adopts and implements a policy of full public disclosure of all its transactions involving public interest.

(D) Article III, Section 8: The right of the people to information on mattersof public concern shall be recognized. Access to official records; and todocuments and papers pertaining to official acts, transactions, ordecisions; as well as to government research data used as basis for policydevelopment; shall be afforded the citizen, subject to such limitations asmay be provided by law.

(E) Article XI, Section 1: Public office is a public trust. Public officers andemployees must at all times be accountable to the people; serve them

with utmost responsibility, integrity, loyalty, and efficiency; act withpatriotism and justice; and lead modest lives.

(F) Article XI, Section 17: A public officer or employee shall, uponassumption of office and as often thereafter as may be required by law,submit a declaration under oath of his assets, liabilities, and net worth.In the case of the President, the Vice-President, the Members of theCabinet, the Congress, the Supreme Court, the ConstitutionalCommissions and other constitutional offices, and officers of the armedforces with general or flag rank, the declaration shall be disclosed to thepublic in the manner provided by law.

(G) Article XII, Section 21: Foreign loans may only be incurred inaccordance with law and the regulation of the monetary authority.Information on foreign loans obtained or guaranteed by the Governmentshall be made available to the public.

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WHEREAS, on many occasions during the past administrations, thetransparency and corruption ratings of the Philippine government had beenalarmingly disgraceful in the scorecards of several reputable internationalorganizations, even to the point of being the most corrupt according t o one of the said international organizations.

WHEREAS under the Administrative Code (Book III, Title 1, Chapter 10,Section 31), the President has continuing authority to reorganize his office.

Now therefore I, President Benigno Aquino III , hereby order:

Section 1. Coordinator. The S ECRETARY OF J USTICE (SOJ) shall serve as theCoordinator for implementing this Executive Order. The SOJ may delegate thedetails of coordination to persons with proven integrity and competence.

Section 2. Policy. Pursuant to Section 28, Article II of the Constitution, theState adopts and implements a policy of full public disclosure of all itstransactions involving public interest.

Section 3. Scope:

3.1. Persons: The scope covers transacting parties of transactions involvingpublic interest.

3.2. Interest: Implementation of this Executive Order shall start withdetermining which transactions involve public interest.

3.3. Purpose: Implementation of this Executive Order shall compel the saidtransacting parties into making a full public disclosure of all theirtransactions involving public interest.

3.4. Enforcement: Those within the scope who refuse to comply with thesaid Constitutional duty of making a full public disclosure shall be thetarget of an intensive life style check investigation, and thereafter, if necessary, an extensive shame campaign.

Section 4. S HA ME C AMPAIGN T RANSPARENCY ACTION COUNCIL (SHACATAC).Parallel to the historical fifty (50) advisers of the late former President Corazon C. Aquino , the incumbent President shall select fifty (50) persons with provenintegrity and competence, who shall be willing to work on pro bono publico orvoluntary donation basis, and who shall serve as voting council members of theSHACATAC. Preferably, each voting council member shall represent areputable N ON -G OVERNMENT ORGANIZATION (NGO) which shall bear the burden of paying for the services of the member. The SHACATAC shall decide, bymajority vote, questions about:

4.1. Which transactions involve public interest?

4.2. Who are bound to make a full public disclosure?

4.3. Who are the violators of the duty to make a full public disclosure?

4.4. Which violations must the SHACATAC investigate first, second, third,and so on, until closure of all transparency investigations?

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Section 5. P UBLIC P RIVATE P ARTNERSHIP (PPP). The SHACATAC shall serve asthe public partner while the private partners shall be:

5.1. News broadcast organizations, reporters, investigative journalists, media

practitioners, internet website hosts, or other similar persons or groups;and/or

5.2. Whistleblowers.

Section 6. Confidential Information. If an anonymous whistleblower (undersubsection 5.2 ) relates in confidence any explosive information to a newsreporter ( under subsection 5.1 ), the news reporter shall be free from anycompulsion to reveal the anonymous source pursuant to Republic Act 53 ,otherwise known as the Sotto Law, effective since 05 October 1946.

Section 7. PPP contract. The public partner and each private partner shallagree on a P UBLIC P RIVATE P ARTNERSHIP R ESEARCH ASSISTANCE FOR THE T RUTHC OMMISSION (PPPRATC).

Section 8. Transparency commencement. The PPPRATC shall have authorityto remind those who were transacting parties in a transaction involving publicinterest to abide with the Constitutional policy of full public disclosurepursuant to Section 28, Article II of the Constitution.

Section 9. Transparency violation. If a transacting party violates theConstitution by refusing to make a full public disclosure (pursuant to Section28, Article II of the Constitution), the PPPRATC shall immediately conduct anintensive life style and asset check of the transparency violator.

Section 10. Presumption arising from suppression. The Rules of Evidence[Rule 131, Section 3 (e)] presume that evidence is adverse against whoever

willfully suppresses its production.

Section 11. Burden of Evidence:

11.1. Burden of Proof A fundamental rule of evidence requires that whoevermakes an allegation or accusation shall bear the burden of presentingpreponderant evidence to prove the allegation or evidence beyondreasonable doubt to prove the accusation.

11.2. Burden of Transparency Section 28, Article II of the Constitutionrequires that public officials, and the private persons they transact with,shall bear the burden of implementing a policy of full public disclosure of all transactions involving public interest. Pursuant to the underlyingConstitutional principle, the transacting parties shall not shift thisburden back to those who expose the said transaction involving publicinterest. This Executive Order shall focus on cases where the burden of transparency rule is applicable.

Section 12. Website. The SHACATAC and/or PPPRATC shall upload in areliable public website all information about transparency violators. Anyoneshall have the right to comment to or question any web information in favor oragainst a transparency violator. The said comments or questions shall likewisebe viewable and downloadable from the website.

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Section 13. Retaliatory Libel Cases. There shall be a L IBEL S HIELD FOR L IFES TYLE C HECK INVESTIGATORS (LISLISCIN). The National Prosecution Service andits prosecutors shall temporarily archive all libel complaints which anyone mayfile versus any member of the SHACATAC or PPPRATC in connection with thelife style checks. The said libel complaints shall remain in archive until closure

of all transparency investigations under this Executive Order.

Section 14. Funding. The SHACATAC shall set itself as a model example of utmost efficiency in the use of public funds.

14.1. During the preparation phase, the SHACATAC shall focus on tasks thatrequire minimal budget or activities that may receive voluntary donationsor assistance from the private sector, but under the strict condition thatdonors and volunteers shall not expect any return of gratitude. Anindependent report of the identities of the donors and volunteers shall be

viewable and downloadable from the website.

14.2. Considering the uncertainty of the budget, the SHACATAC may raise itsown funds by innovative means such as by allowing its website or otherpublications to accept advertisements that are non-political and have noeffect of defeating the purposes of this Executive Order.

14.3. For the success of the program, the Office of the President shall set asidea budget in an amount not exceeding ____________________________ Pesos.

Section 15. Tax Informant s Reward. If the efforts of a PPPRATC shall resultto a tax collection, the private partner of that PPPRATC shall have a right toclaim the tax informants reward under existing tax laws .

Section 16. Personnel. The SHACATAC shall engage first those who are willing to serve on pro bono or voluntary donation basis. After the programattains momentum, the SHACATAC shall organize a personnel force inaccordance with the pertinent Civil Service Commission rules, taking intoconsideration global best practices for effective organizations. All personnelshall voluntarily submit to a lifestyle check and execute a waiver of the right tosecrecy of bank deposits under Republic Act 1405. Their P ERSONAL DATAS HEET (PDS) and S TATEMENT OF ASSETS , L IABILITIES , AND NET WORTH (SALN) shallbe viewable and downloadable from the SHACATAC s website.

Section 17. Consultants. The SHACATAC shall have the power to contract theservices of honest and competent consultants who shall voluntarily submit to alifestyle check and execute a waiver of the right to secrecy of bank depositsu nder Republic Act 1405. Their PDS and SALN shall be viewable anddownloadable from SHACATAC s website. All consultancy fees shall be modest.

Section 18. Office. The SHACATAC may use office spaces available ingovernment buildings that are conveniently accessible to the general public. If no such office space is available, the SHACATAC may either rent from privatelessors or accept any private sector offer for free use of office space and facility,but under the strict condition of no return of gratitude policy to the offeror.

Section 19. Procurement. In accordance with the Government ProcurementReform Act (Republic Act 9184), the SHACATAC may procure goods andservices necessary for accomplishing the purposes of this Executive Order.

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Section 20. Identifying Issues. The SHACATAC shall prepare a tentative list of serious transparency violations. The tentative list shall undergo consultations

where participants may add but shall not subtract issues. If anyone attemptsto subtract an issue, the SHACATAC shall treat the attempt as one additional

issue.

Section 21. Prioritizing Issues. The SHACATAC may survey the consultationparticipants about prioritizing the issues from grave to trivial to optimize use of available time and resources by starting with high impact issues beforeproceeding to the next priority issues. The consultations may include:

21.1. P UBLIC O PINION OF L OCAL E X ECUTIVES (POLEX) and P UBLIC OPINION OF L OCAL L EGISLATORS (POLL). The SHACATAC shall submit the tentative list to allGovernors and Board Members. In turn, the Governors and Board

Members may consult their respective Mayors and Councilors. Those who participate in the POLEX and POLL may either select items in thelist or add new items or otherwise submit comments for the guidance of the SHACATAC.

21.2. N ON -G OVERNMENT ORGANIZATIONS (NGO), P EOPLE S O RGANIZATIONS (PO),C IVIL S OCIETY O RGANIZATIONS (CSO). On first-come-first-serve basis, anyNGO, PO, CSO, or similar entity may participate in the SHACATAC sconsultation on issues.

21.3. On-Line Poll. The SHACATAC s website shall conduct on -line polls wherein any person in cyberspace may submit on-line comments to theSHACATAC s consultation on issues. Thereupon, the SHACATAC maysort which among the cyber comments are worthy of consideration.

21.4. Any person or group may propose ways and means to maximize publicconsultations at the minimum possible cost to the SHACATAC.

21.5. At any stage of the public consultation process, Congress may addinputs for the guidance of the SHACATAC.

Section 22. Identifying Respondents. After identification of issues and theirrespective priority ratings, the SHACATAC shall identify the persons who areprobably responsible for the acts or omissions from which the issues grew.

Section 23. Invitation. The SHACATAC shall invite each respondent to make afull public disclosure of the transactions involving public interest to whichthey were parties, pursuant to Section 28, Article II of the Constitution.

Section 24. Official Documents. If the documentary evidence necessary forfull public disclosure are in the custody of another agency within the executivebranch of government, the SHACATAC shall have the power to issue subpoena duces tecum , therein directing the custodian to recognize the right of thepeople to information on matters of public concern and to afford the citizena ccess to official records; and to documents and papers pertaining to officialacts, transactions, or decisions; as well as to government research data used asbasis for policy development pursuant to Section 8, Article III of theConstitution.

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Section 25. Transparency Investigation. The act or omission of a respondentin refusing or failing to make a full public disclosure shall triggertransparency investigations against him before the SHACATAC.

Section 26. Rules of Court. In the conduct of transparency investigations, the

SHACATAC may apply by analogy or in a suppletory manner the pertinentprinciples in the Rules of Court of the Philippines.

Section 27. Discovery Procedures. To effectively achieve the purposes of transparency investigations, the SHACATAC or any party before it may use themodes of discovery under Rules 23 to 29 of the Rules of Court.

Section 28. Maximum Transparency. The SHACATAC shall practice what itpreaches by maximizing the use of the best available transparency monitoringtechnologies that are affordable within the budget. Hearings shall allowcoverage by audio+visual recording technologies, subject to reasonable security

rules and regulations that only intend to ensure fair and equal access amongcompeting news broadcasting organizations.

Section 29. Counsel. Whenever the SHACATAC orders a person to testifybefore it, he shall, at any stage of the proceedings, have the right to competentand independent counsel, preferably of his own choice pursuant to Subsection(1), Section 12, Article III of the Constitution.

Section 30. Witness and Whistleblower Protection. The SHACATAC shall havethe power to require any law enforcement agency to assist in protecting those

who testified or will testify for or under this Executive Order.

Section 31. Continuing Reports and Recommendations. As soon as possible,the SHACATAC and/or PPPRATC shall submit reports and recommendations toany or all of the following:

31.1. Presidential Commission on Good Government;31.2. Truth Commission;31.3. Department of Justice;31.4. Department of Finance;

31.4.1. Bureau of Internal Revenue;31.4.2. Bureau of Customs;

31.5. Civil Service Commission;31.6. Commission on Audit;31.7. Commission on Human Rights; or31.8. Office of the Ombudsman.

Section 32. I MPLEMENTING RULES AND REGULATIONS (IRR). This Executive Ordershall be self-executory. However, the SHACATAC may formulate a clear andsimple IRR for effective implementation of this Executive Order.

Section 33. Repealing Clause. This Executive Order modifies or repeals allirreconcilably inconsistent executive issuances germane to the same subject.

Section 34. Separability Clause. If a court of competent jurisdiction declaresany portion of this Executive Order as unconstitutional or invalid, suchdeclaration shall not affect the other provisions in this Executive Order.

Section 35. Effectivity Date. This Executive Order shall take effect after fifteendays from publication in two newspapers of general circulation.