PROSECUTORS BLAME CIDG FOR DISMISSAL OF KERWIN CASE
PROSECUTORS at the Department of Justice (DoJ) on Thursday maintained that the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) should be blamed for the dismissal of the drug complaint against alleged big time drug lords Kerwin Espinosa, Peter Lim and several others because the case it presented was weak.
They added that the testimony of the lone witness presented by the CIDG – Marcelo Adorco — was “unreliable, inconsistent and uncorroborated.”
In an interview, former Assistant State Prosecutor and now Lucena City Regional Trial Court Judge Aristotle Reyes and Assistant State Prosecutor Michael John Humarang argued that gathering evidence is a police duty and not the responsibility of government prosecutors. “Basahinsanamunanilaang desisyonbagokamihusgahan.
Mahinatalagaangkasong
CIDG. Ehdipagnadismisyan
ngkorte, DoJ angsisihin ( They should first read the decision before judging us. If the case was filed and was dismissed by the court, the DoJ will get the blame),” Reyes said.
“Obviously, the rise or fall of complainant’s case will depend solely on the testimonies of its only witness, Adorco. Assessing Adorco’s allegations in his affidavits, we, however, find the same unworthy of consideration. His testimonies are rife with inconsistencies and contradictions, and run against the standards of human experience and the logical course of reality,” they said.
In the decision dismissing the complaint against Espenosa, Lim, Peter Co, Marcelo Adorco, Max Miro, Lovely Impal, Ruel Malindangan, Jun Pepito, Jermy Amang and several others, the prosecutors said the case had to be dismissed for lack of probable cause.
“For an evidence to be believed, it must proceed not only from the mouth of a credible witness but must be credible in itself as to hurdle the test of conformity with the knowledge and common experience of mankind,” the resolution read.
Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre ordered an investigation of the prosecutors who handled the case. Aside from Reyes and Humarang, Senior Assistant State Prosecutor Rassendell Rex Gingoyon and Acting Prosecutor General Jorge Catalan, Jr., who approved the resolution, are also covered by the probe.
“I welcome the reinvestiga-
tion of the case. We stand ready to face the probe, malinisang amingkonsyensyaatmakikita
namanna ( Our conscience is clear and it is obvious that) complainant [ CIDG] did not present sufficient evidence but istead relied only on the testimony of its sole witness,” Humarang said in a text message.
Lim was charged in connection with his alleged drug trans Lim and convicted drug lord Peter Co.
Despite the junking of the drug complaint, Palace spokesman Harry Roque said President Rodrigo Duterte still trusts Aguirre.
“[ Duterte] said so [ that he is still trusting Aguirre]. Maybe the trust remains because he is still not fired by the President. The President has not hesitated to fire members of the Cabinet. For as long as he has not been fired, he will enjoy the trust and confidence of the President,” Roque said.