LOUIS "BAROK" C.

BIRAOGO, Petitioner,
vs.
THE PHILIPPINE TRUTH COMMISSION OF 2010, Respondent.

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G.R. No. 193036

REP. EDCEL C. LAGMAN, REP. RODOLFO B. ALBANO, JR., REP. SIMEON A. DATUMANONG, and REP.
ORLANDO B. FUA, SR., Petitioners,
vs.
EXECUTIVE SECRETARY PAQUITO N. OCHOA, JR. and DEPARTMENT OF BUDGET AND MANAGEMENT
SECRETARY FLORENCIO B. ABAD, Respondents.
FACTS:

 The genesis of the foregoing cases can be traced to the events prior to the historic May 2010 elections, when then
Senator Benigno Simeon Aquino III catapulted to the presidency with the slogan "Kung walang corrupt, walang
mahirap."
 To transform his campaign slogan into reality, President Aquino found a need for a special body to investigate
reported cases of graft and corruption allegedly committed during the previous administration.
 Thus, the President signed Executive Order No. 1 establishing the Philippine Truth Commission of 2010 (Truth
Commission).
 the Philippine Truth Commission (PTC) is a mere ad hoc body formed under the Office of the President with the
primary task to investigate reports of graft and corruption committed by third-level public officers and employees,
their co-principals, accomplices and accessories during the previous administration, and thereafter to submit its
finding and recommendations to the President, Congress and the Ombudsman.
o it is essentially an entity within the Office of the President Proper and subject to his control. Doubtless, it
constitutes a public office, as an ad hoc body is one
o It is not a quasi-judicial body as it cannot adjudicate, arbitrate, resolve, settle, or render awards in disputes
between contending parties. All it can do is gather, collect and assess evidence of graft and corruption and
make recommendations. It may have subpoena powers but it has no power to cite people in contempt.
 Barely a month after the issuance of Executive Order No. 1, the petitioners asked the Court to declare it
unconstitutional and to enjoin the PTC from performing its functions
o violates the separation of powers as it arrogates the power of the Congress to create a public office and
appropriate funds for its operation
o the Administrative Code of 1987 cannot legitimize E.O. No. 1 because the delegated authority of the
President to structurally reorganize the Office of the President does not include the power to create an
entirely new public office which was hitherto inexistent like the "Truth Commission."
o illegally amended the Constitution and pertinent statutes when it vested the "Truth Commission" with quasi-
judicial powers
o violates the equal protection clause as it selectively targets for investigation and prosecution officials and
personnel of the previous administration
o The creation of the "Philippine Truth Commission violates the consistent and general international practice

ISSUE: Does the creation of the PTC fall within the ambit of the power to reorganize as expressed in Section 31 of the
Revised Administrative Code?

RULING:

 Section 31 contemplates "reorganization" as limited by the following functional and structural lines: (1) restructuring
the internal organization of the Office of the President Proper by abolishing, consolidating or merging units thereof
or transferring functions from one unit to another; (2) transferring any function under the Office of the President to
any other Department/Agency or vice versa; or (3) transferring any agency under the Office of the President to any
other Department/Agency or vice versa.
 the provision refers to reduction of personnel, consolidation of offices, or abolition thereof by reason of economy or
redundancy of functions.
  These point to situations where a body or an office is already existent but a modification or alteration thereof has to
be effected. The creation of an office is nowhere mentioned, much less envisioned in said provision. Accordingly,
the answer to the question is in the negative.
 To say that the PTC is borne out of a restructuring of the Office of the President under Section 31 is a misplaced
supposition, even in the plainest meaning attributable to the term "restructure"
o the PTC was not part of the structure of the Office of the President prior to the enactment of Executive
Order No. 1
 In Canonizado v. Aguirre [323 SCRA 312 (2000)], we ruled that reorganization "involves the reduction of personnel,
consolidation of offices, or abolition thereof by reason of economy or redundancy of functions." It takes place when
there is an alteration of the existing structure of government offices or units therein, including the lines of control,
authority and responsibility between them.
 the creation of the PTC is not justified by the President’s power of control. Control is essentially the power to alter
or modify or nullify or set aside what a subordinate officer had done in the performance of his duties and to substitute
the judgment of the former with that of the latter.47 Clearly, the power of control is entirely different from the power
to create public offices. The former is inherent in the Executive, while the latter finds basis from either a valid
delegation from Congress, or his inherent duty to faithfully execute the laws.
ISSUE: is there a valid delegation of power from Congress, empowering the President to create a public office?
RULING:

 According to the OSG, the power to create a truth commission pursuant to the above provision finds statutory basis
under P.D. 1416, as amended by P.D. No. 1772.
 The Court, however, declines to recognize P.D. No. 1416 as a justification for the President to create a public office.
Said decree is already stale, anachronistic and inoperable. P.D. No. 1416 was a delegation to then President
Marcos of the authority to reorganize the administrative structure of the national government including the power to
create offices and transfer appropriations pursuant to one of the purposes of the decree.
 Clearly, as it was only for the purpose of providing manageability and resiliency during the interim, P.D. No. 1416,
as amended by P.D. No. 1772, became functus oficio upon the convening of the First Congress, as expressly
provided in Section 6, Article XVIII of the 1987 Constitution.
 While the power to create a truth commission cannot pass muster on the basis of P.D. No. 1416 as amended by
P.D. No. 1772, the creation of the PTC finds justification under Section 17, Article VII of the Constitution, imposing
upon the President the duty to ensure that the laws are faithfully executed.
 the allocation of power in the three principal branches of government is a grant of all powers inherent in them. The
President’s power to conduct investigations to aid him in ensuring the faithful execution of laws is inherent in the
President’s powers as the Chief Executive. That the authority of the President to conduct investigations and to
create bodies to execute this power is not explicitly mentioned in the Constitution or in statutes does not mean that
he is bereft of such authority
 It would not be accurate, however, to state that "executive power" is the power to enforce the laws, for the President
is head of state as well as head of government and whatever powers inhere in such positions pertain to the office
unless the Constitution itself withholds it. Furthermore, the Constitution itself provides that the execution of the laws
is only one of the powers of the President. It also grants the President other powers that do not involve the execution
of any provision of law, e.g., his power over the country's foreign relations.
 Although the 1987 Constitution imposes limitations on the exercise of specific powers of the President, it maintains
intact what is traditionally considered as within the scope of "executive power." Corollarily, the powers of the
President cannot be said to be limited only to the specific powers enumerated in the Constitution. In other words,
executive power is more than the sum of specific powers so enumerated.
 the Executive is given much leeway in ensuring that our laws are faithfully executed the powers of the President
are not limited to those specific powers under the Constitution. 53 One of the recognized powers of the President
granted pursuant to this constitutionally-mandated duty is the power to create ad hoc committees. This flows from
the obvious need to ascertain facts and determine if laws have been faithfully executed.
 The Chief Executive’s power to create the Ad hoc Investigating Committee cannot be doubted. Having been
constitutionally granted full control of the Executive Department, to which respondents belong, the President has
the obligation to ensure that all executive officials and employees faithfully comply with the law.
 the purpose of allowing ad hoc investigating bodies to exist is to allow an inquiry into matters which the President
is entitled to know so that he can be properly advised and guided in the performance of his duties relative to the
execution and enforcement of the laws of the land.
 There being no changes in the government structure, the Court is not inclined to declare such executive power as
non-existent just because the direction of the political winds have changed.