Composition and Key Positions
- The Commission is composed of a Chairman and four (4) Commissioners, all appointed by the President.
- A majority of the Commission members must be members of the Philippine Bar and must have engaged in the practice of law in the Philippines for at least five (5) years.
- The Chairman holds the rank, emoluments, and privileges of a Presidential Assistant II, and presides over Commission meetings.
- The Chairman directs and supervises the implementation and execution of policies, rules, and regulations promulgated by the Commission.
- Each Commissioner holds the rank, emoluments, and privileges of a Presidential Assistant I.
Secretariat and Operating Units
- The Commission has a Secretariat to provide technical and administrative support.
- The Chairman appoints, promotes, and disciplines personnel of the Secretariat.
- The Secretariat is headed by an Executive Director with the rank, emoluments, and privileges of an Assistant Secretary.
- The Executive Director is appointed by the President upon the recommendation of the Chairman and executes and administers Commission policies and manages day-to-day operations under the Chairman’s control and supervision.
- Subject to the General Appropriations Act and other applicable laws, rules, and regulations, the Commission may organize and set in operation organizational units needed to perform its powers and duties.
- The Chairman appoints, promotes, and disciplines personnel of all operating units, subject to pertinent laws, rules, and regulations.
- The Commission may hire its own personnel, with its organizational structure and staffing pattern, and subsequent changes, in accordance with pertinent laws, rules, and regulations.
Jurisdiction and Coverage of Cases
- The Commission has the power to hear, investigate, receive, gather, and evaluate evidence, intelligence reports, and information in administrative cases against presidential appointees.
- The Commission acts on complaint or motu proprio, and it acts with concurrency with the Office of the Ombudsman.
- Coverage includes presidential appointees in the Executive Branch of government and any of its agencies or instrumentalities occupying a position of Assistant Regional Director or an equivalent rank and higher, otherwise classified as Salary Grade “28” and higher under Republic Act No. 6758 (Compensation and Position Classification Act of 1989).
- Coverage includes: members of the governing board of any instrumentality, regulatory agency, or chartered institution; and directors or officers, appointees or nominees of the President to government-owned or -controlled corporations, or those who otherwise represent the interests of the government.
- The Commission’s administrative cases must involve acts or omissions constituting violations of any of the following:
- Republic Act No. 3019, as amended
- Republic Act No. 1379 on the unlawful acquisition of property by a public officer or employee
- Republic Act No. 6713
- Provisions under Title Seven, Book Two of the Revised Penal Code
- Executive Order No. 292 (s. 1987) whenever it defines and imposes administrative sanctions on acts and omissions constituting violations of the foregoing laws and issuances
- Rules and regulations duly promulgated by competent authority to implement any of the foregoing laws and issuances
- Other violations referred to the Commission by the President
- The President may instruct the Commission to investigate presidential appointees in the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police whenever the President deems it necessary or appropriate.
- The Commission may conduct lifestyle checks and fact-finding inquiries on acts or omissions of all presidential appointees, including those outside the Executive Branch, when such acts or omissions may be violative of the Constitution, contrary to law, rules and regulations, and/or constitute serious misconduct tantamount to betrayal of public trust.
- On the basis of lifestyle checks and fact-finding inquiries, the Commission submits its report and recommended courses of action directly to the President.
- The Commission must use every and every reasonable means to ascertain facts in each case or complaint speedily and objectively, while observing due process in all instances.
- The resignation or retirement of a public officer under investigation does not divest the Commission of jurisdiction to continue the investigation or hearing.
- The Commission may enlist the aid and support of any law enforcement agency and may call upon all government agencies and instrumentalities, including GOCCs, for assistance and cooperation, including for acquisition of relevant documents or participation in or conduct of the investigation, subject to submission of a written report to the Commission.
- The Commission may recommend the admission of vital witnesses into the Witness Protection Program administered by the Department of Justice.
- The Commission may engage qualified consultants and/or deputies from public and private sectors, subject to pertinent laws, rules, and regulations.
Investigations, Preventive Suspension, and Orders
- Upon the filing of a complaint or charge, the Commission may recommend to the President the issuance of an order of preventive suspension when warranted by the circumstances of the investigation.
- Preventive suspension may be recommended when charges are punishable with removal from the service or when the respondent’s continued stay in office will prejudice the fair determination of the case.
- Preventive suspension continues until the case is terminated by the Commission, but in no case may it exceed ninety (90) days.
- The preventive suspension period excludes delays due to the fault, negligence, or action of the respondent, and the period of such delay is not counted in computing preventive suspension.
- The Commission has authority to take testimony or receive evidence, and it may therefore administer oaths and issue subpoena ad testificandum and subpoena duces tecum.
Enforcement Through Summons Compliance
- Delay or refusal without adequate cause to comply with a subpoena issued by the Commission or by its authority constitutes a ground for administrative disciplinary action.
- The Commission recommends the administrative disciplinary action to the President against the erring public officer or employee.
- The administrative disciplinary action for subpoena non-compliance is heard by the Commission separately from the underlying investigation or administrative case for which the subpoenas were issued.
Reports, Recommendations, Referrals, and Confidentiality
- After completing its investigation or hearing, or fact-finding inquiry, the Commission submits its report and recommendations directly to the President for approval and final disposition.
- The report and recommendations must state the Commission’s factual findings and legal conclusions, and must include the recommended administrative penalty or a referral to the appropriate disciplinary authority.
- When warranted, the Commission may refer any case for appropriate action to the Office of the Ombudsman.
- The Commission may deputize an office, committee, commission, bureau, agency, or department, including GOCCs, to conduct a fact-finding investigation.
- The Commission and its personnel must not disclose or make public any record or information connected with an investigation if disclosure would deprive the respondent of the right to a fair and impartial investigation.
- Disclosures relating to an administrative case, complaint, or inquiry must be balanced, fair, and accurate.
Transfer from PAGC and Transitional Timeline
- The investigative, recommendatory, and other incidental functions of the defunct Presidential Anti-Graft Commission (PAGC), transferred to the Office of the Deputy Executive Secretary for Legal Affairs (ODESLA) by Executive Order No. 13 (s. 2010), are transferred to the Commission.
- ODESLA retains functions of formulating national anti-corruption plans, policies, and strategies, implementing anti-corruption initiatives of the government, and monitoring compliance, including:
- Reviewing and implementing the Philippines’ compliance with the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) pursuant to Executive Order No. 171 (s. 2014)
- Implementing the Integrity Management Program (IMP) pursuant to Executive Order No. 176 (s. 2014)
- Coordinating with the inter-Agency Anti-Graft Coordinating Council
- Upon effectivity, ODESLA continues to perform its investigative, recommendatory, and other incidental functions under Executive Order No. 13 (s. 2010) until the members of the Commission and its Secretariat are duly appointed.
- Winding up of ODESLA operations, including turnover of records of pending cases (including PAGC cases) within the Commission’s jurisdiction must be completed not later than six (6) months from the time when the Commission is constituted.
Adoption of Rules, Funding, Effectivity, Repeal
- The Commission must promulgate or adopt its rules and regulations for effective implementation.
- The Commission’s initial budget is determined in coordination with the Department of Budget and Management and submitted to the Office of the President for approval.
- Appropriations for succeeding years are incorporated in the budget proposal for the Office of the President.
- If any provision of Executive Order No. 43 is declared invalid, illegal, or unconstitutional, the remaining provisions continue in force and effect under Section 16.
- All orders, rules and regulations, and issuances or parts thereof inconsistent with Executive Order No. 43 are repealed, amended, or modified accordingly under Section 17.
- Executive Order No. 43 takes effect fifteen (15) days after its publication.