EDITORIAL – Empowering a commission

An independent commission can work, but it will depend on what it intends to achieve, how much independence it will enjoy and how much power it can wield to attain its objective. The fact-finding commission formed after the Oakwood mutiny in 2003, headed by retired Supreme Court Justice Florentino Feliciano, was allowed to summon witnesses and question key players in the aborted coup. Questions linger about the mutiny; financiers and civilian supporters were not identified. But with the facts at its disposal, the commission drew up detailed recommendations to reform the Armed Forces of the Philippines and eradicate the coup mindset among military personnel. Many of the recommendations are being implemented; in this sense, the commission has been a success.

Now another retired Supreme Court justice, Jose Melo, has been tapped to head another commission. Melo’s panel is tasked to investigate the rash of killings whose principal victims are militant activists and journalists. Malacañang may want to define the parameters of Melo’s mission. Is he tasked to identify the killers and solve the murders? That is a law enforcement job, and so far the state’s law enforcement efforts have been a big disappointment. Is the commission tasked to draw up recommendations on how to put an end to the murders that have continued unabated even after the restoration of democracy in 1986?

The success of the commission will also depend on how much power it can wield over the principal suspects in the killings. Militant groups are pointing to the military; the AFP says many of the activists slain in recent months were victims of the latest brutal purge in the communist movement. Will President Arroyo allow her military officers, whom her administration bars from attending certain congressional hearings, to face the commission? How much cooperation can the commission expect from communist rebels suspected of carrying out the purge? As for murdered journalists, many are victims of local political kingpins. What if the suspected brains are political allies of the administration?

If there is no whitewash and no sacred cows, and if the Melo commission is given the power and independence to perform its mandate, this could turn out to be a good idea. But those are big ifs.