WHATEVER else other may see or say about the so-called Truth Commission, the fact remains that it is a win-win or a lose-lose proposition to whoever would head it.
During a media briefing the other day, President Noynoy Aquino expressed full trust and confidence in Hilario Davide Jr., the
man he appointed to head the truth body.
But opposition to the Davide appointment is mounting and rising.
He is accused of being close to former president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.
Davide administered her oath of office as president twice while Arroyo, in turn, helped him parry moves to impeach him
when he was still Supreme Court chief justice.
PNoy, however, vouched for Davide’s credibility.
Davide had resigned as permanent UN representative to campaign for his son, Junjun, and joined the Aquino campaign for the May 10 elections.
Integrity
Set against the context of his past persona, Davide appears to have developed a sense of flexibility in his professional life.
He has become capable, somehow, of setting himself up in a position that he needs to assume and become an objective seeker of the truth, regardless of who is involved.
Thus, given this trust and confidence by the incumbent president and the manner with which he comported himself under the previous administration, there is no strong basis to suspect that he would not effectively be able to seek the truth in whatever case the commission will investigate.
There is soundness in the position President Aquino has taken on the matter.
The fact that he has observed Davide long enough during his mother’s presidency has given him solid confidence that he would stand by his integrity and moral principles.
Otherwise, who else could he trust and carry on the search for truth under his regime?
There is a need, indeed, for the sake of practical reality, to let the commission be.
Unique
The notion of a Truth Commission is rather innovative, something quite alien to our contemporary politics.
Normally, the search for truth in cases that involves graft and corruption, as well as political shenanigans, has always been left to our existing investigative agencies to look into.
But more often than not, in the mesh of personal political interest, they get lost.
Soon, the cases get lost in the limbo of incoming political concerns.