Time to face the music, yellows

Over a week has passed but still, three of the losing yellow senatorial bets, along with an ex-High Court spokesman during the days of the nevera-Chief-Justice-of-the-Supreme-Court Lourdes Sereno;

Vice President Leni Robredo; and others named in the sedition case filed by the Philippine National Police Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (PNP-CIDG), continue to call for the disqualification of the Office of the Solicitor-General (OSG).

Otso Diretso bets Chel Diokno, Erin Tañada, Gary Alejano and ex-SC spokesman Theodore Te moved to disqualify Office of SolGen from Justice department’s probe into the sedition complaint.

The group continued to press on the agency and has called for the OSG disqualification in the ongoing hearing at the Department of Justice, citing the lack of authority and possible conflict of interest, insisting that the OSG can only involve itself in criminal cases before the appellate court and the Supreme Court (SC).

Those objecting to the OSG’s participation are lawyers and presumably all know the law, although nothing of that sort stops them from gaining more media coverage.

There they went, questioning the Assistant SolGen, Angelita Miranda’s appearance at the probe, arguing that the PNP-CIDG has its own pool of lawyers.

As argued by the Free Legal Assistance Group (FLAG) lawyers, the PNP-CIDG has a service with lawyers in its ranks at its disposal. There is no justification for the intervention of OSG in these proceedings, especially considering a patent lack of authority as well as highly probable conflict of interest.

The FLAG lawyers and even their clients cited the SC decision in a case that said the OSG participates only in a criminal case when it has reached the appellate courts.

However, that same SC case cited apparently applied only to a public official.

“It is the office of the city, provincial or state prosecutor, as the case may be, and not the Office of the Solicitor General which attends to the investigation and the prosecution of criminal cases in the first instance,” the case said. Although it involved a public official, FLAG lawyers argued the same rule should apply “by parity of principle” to a case involving private respondent like Peter Advincula, better known as the TV hooded “Bikoy,” the lawyers of the yellow group insisted.

This group of lawyers knows that its move to get the OSG disqualification to represent the CIDG and “Bikoy” won’t succeed but it continues with that move through motions, as it wants to be in the media spotlight, although it would be much better for all of them to just face the case against the FLAG’s clients. After all, if the law is on their side, they win the case for their clients since they believe that the OSG has no business involving itself in hearings at the DOJ, as well as the lower courts.

From the counter-affidavits filed by the yellows and the bishops who were implicated by Advincula, they all seem to have admitted to having seen/talked to the earlier “Bikoy” who had pointed the accusing finger at President Duterte and his family members, calling the paterfamilias the true and biggest drug lord.

Of course, despite their admissions of having met and even spoken to Bikoy, they all spoke of their having the duty to attend and care for the least of their brethren excuse, with one bishop even saying that Advincula had come to see him, and they met for some 30 minutes.

And to think Advincula is not even a parishioner of the bishops’ parish!

The lawyers and their clients in the sedition charges should have better arguments claiming that the OSG is merely covering up its “failed veiled attempt to surreptitiously conceal” its involvement in the case where media reported that the OSG came up with the affidavit complaint of Advincula, when this agency, by law, should not have a hand in drafting the complaint, as the media report went.

Motion after motion can be submitted, but in the end, it will have to be the DOJ that will decide whether to can the complaint, even when the case — whichever way it goes — will still be elevated before the courts by either the respondents or the complainant.

All these are yellow delaying tactics. Enough already. They did the same when they were in power and position. Heck, the then SolGen Florin Hilbay even represented a senator instead of the Senate in a quo warranto case which should have been his client instead of the senator. Just face the music and be done with it, yellows. Earn the public sympathy first. That’s what is needed.

“This group of lawyers knows that its move to get the OSG disqualification to represent the CIDG and “Bikoy” won’t succeed but it continues with that move through motions, as it wants to be in the media spotlight.

“The group continued to press on the agency and has called for the OSG disqualification in the ongoing hearing at the Department of Justice.