RULES GOVERNING THE CONDUCT OF ADVERSARIAL PUBLIC HEARINGS

WHEREAS, under Secs. 2(a) and 3 (a), Rule IIIC, Administrative Order
No. 2, the National Amnesty Commission may conduct public hearings on
amnesty applications and motions for reconsideration;

WHEREAS, the issuance of Proclamation No. 21 and Administrative
Order No. 2 requires the revision of Resolution No. 95-04 providing for
rules governing adversarial public hearings;

NOW, THEREFORE, the National Amnesty Commission hereby resolves to
promulgate the following rules governing the conduct of adversarial
public hearings:

Section 1.      Public Adversarial Hearing, When Necessary
. — (1) Where, despite the documents and evidence gathered by the Local
Amnesty Board in support of its recommendation, the Commission deems it
necessary to fully apprise itself of certain facts or circumstances in
order to arrive at a fair and judicious determination of the merits of
an application, the Commission may direct the holding of an adversarial
public hearing on the application.

(2)       The Commission may similarly decide to hold adversarial
public hearing on a motion for reconsideration seeking to reverse its
grant or denial of an amnesty application.

Section 2.      Notice . — When the
Commission determines that a public adversarial hearing is necessary in
order to properly decide upon an application or a motion for
reconsideration, a formal notice shall be sent to the applicant or
movant and oppositor/s, containing the following:

(a)   The issue/s to be resolved;
(b)   The date, time, and place of the hearing; and
(c)   The parties’ right to counsel.

The applicant or movant shall be directed to submit, within ten (10)
days from receipt of notice, their testimonial evidence in the form of
an affidavit in question and answer form specifically addressing the
issue/s to be resolved. Said affidavit shall constitute the affiant’s
testimony on direct examination upon which cross-examination shall be
based.

Notices shall also be sent to such other concerned persons as may be
determined by the Commission containing (a) and (b) above.

Section 3.      Appearance . — The following persons may appear at the hearing:

(a)   The applicant/movant;
(b)   The oppositor/s, if any;
(c)   Respective counsels;
(d)   Witnesses; and/or
(e)   Such other person/s whose presence is/are requested by the Commission to give enlightenment on the issue/s involved.

Section 4.      Public Hearing . — The
hearing shall be open to the public unless the Commission grants the
motion of a party for a closed hearing on the grounds of security,
confidentiality and such other justifiable reasons;

Section 5.      Order of Presentation . — The parties shall be heard in the following order:

(a)   Presentation of the applicant’s/movant’s evidence;
(b)   Presentation of the oppositor/s’ evidence;
(c)   Rebuttal evidence of the applicant/movant;
(d)   Sur-rebuttal evidence of the oppositor/s.

Such order of trial may however be modified at the discretion of the Commission.

Section 6.      Non-appearance . — Failure
to appear at a hearing shall be deemed a waiver of the right of the
absent party to present evidence and oral arguments.

Section 7.      Absence of counsel . — If,
despite notice, the applicant or movant appears without counsel, the
Commission shall appoint a de officio counsel to assist him in the
hearing.

Section 8.      Non-appearance of witness/es
. — Testimonial evidence shall be submitted in the form of affidavits
and the affiants shall be presented before the Commission for
authentication of his statement and cross-examination by the opposing
party. If the witness/es whose testimony/ies was/were submitted in
affidavit form fail/s to appear at the hearing, his/their affidavit/s
shall be stricken off the record except public documents attached
thereto.

Section 9.      Continuance . — The
Commission may order a continuance of the hearing if the arguments and
evidence of the parties cannot be fully presented in the course of one
hearing; however, in no case shall a party be allowed more than two (2)
hearing days to present his case. Neither shall the hearings on the
application or motion for reconsideration take more than thirty (30)
days to be completed.

Section 10.    Submission of Memorandum of Arguments.
— After the presentation of oral arguments and additional evidence to
the commission, the parties may make closing oral arguments and/or
submit a written Memorandum of Arguments within fifteen (1 5) days.
Failure to submit the respective Memorandum of Arguments shall be deemed
a waiver, and the Commission shall decide the application or motion for
reconsideration based on the evidence on record. Extension of time to
file Memorandum of Arguments shall not be allowed.

Section 11.    Time to decide . — Within
thirty (30) days from the date of the last hearing, the application or
motion for reconsideration shall be scheduled for deliberation and
decision by the Commission.

Adopted: 13 Jan. 2000