DoJ vows fair review of Castro’s petition

‘We will objectively examine the evidence they have submitted, assessing whether the allegations in their complaint meet the necessary elements’

An official of the Department of Justice assured ACT Teachers Partylist Rep. France Castro of an unbiased and impartial assessment of her petition for review on a case involving former President Rodrigo Duterte.

This was stated by DoJ Assistant Secretary and spokesperson Atty. Mico Clavano when asked to comment on the petition of Castro appealing the decision of the prosecutors who handled the grave threats case against the former president which was dismissed.

“We will objectively examine the evidence they have submitted, assessing whether the allegations in their complaint meet the necessary elements,” Clavano said. Earlier, Castro filed a petition for review with the Office of the Justice Secretary, seeking the reversal of a local prosecutor’s resolution on 9 January 2024, clearing Duterte.

Castro, in her petition, asserted that the criminal complaint contains all the elements of the crime of grave threats, and noted the city prosecutor’s mistake in disregarding the electronic evidence she presented to support her complaint.

“There is nothing in the rules that provides for an ‘authentication or certification’ from social media platforms or from the television network where the electronic document is taken,” the petition read.

“The Office of City Prosecutor committed grave abuse of discretion when it declined to attribute due evidentiary value to the complainant’s sworn statement that she watched, downloaded, and saved the video footages containing Respondent-Appellee’s threatening remarks,” it added.

The prosecutors in a resolution said, “After careful and judicious evaluation of the allegations and evidence obtaining in the complaint, the undersigned finds the same to be insufficient to indict respondent for the crime charged against him.”

The resolution was signed by Senior Assistant City Prosecutors Ulric Q. Badiola and Rosanna Morales Montojo and Deputy City Prosecutor Leilia

R. Llanes.