Politically motivated

The Department of Justice (DOJ) under incumbent Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II, is indeed in hot water right now because of several actions it has taken that appear to be so anomalous or politically motivated and directed against the opposition.

First among these moves is the previous dismissal on the ground of weak evidence, the charges filed by the Philippine National Police, Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (PNP CIDG) against Kerwin Espinosa, Peter Lim and Peter Co, among others, for the sale, administration, trading, delivery and transportation of illegal drugs punishable by Republic Act (RA) 9165, otherwise known as the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act. Such dismissal drew the ire of a lot of people, including the President himself, who reportedly punched a wall in Malacanang, because Kerwin Espinosa is a self-confessed drug dealer, while Peter Lim has been tagged by a witness as Kerwin’s supplier of drugs, and Peter Co is a New Bilibid Prison inmate engaged in drug trafficking.

In dismissing the charges, the prosecutors ruled that the testimony of the witness of the PNP CIDG is not credible and instead gave weight to Lim’s denial. Such ruling is really questionable because in the preliminary investigation, they only have to determine the existence of probable cause to file charges in court and it is up to the court to weigh the credibility of the witnesses on both sides. Probable cause has been defined as “such sets of facts and circumstances that would lead a reasonably discreet and prudent man to believe that an offense has been committed by the person sought to be charged and arrested” (Santos vs. Orda Jr., 620 SCRA, 375). Based on this definition, would a reasonably discreet and prudent man not believe that the respondents named by the PNP, CIDG, particularly, Espinosa, Lim and Co should be arrested and tried in court for violating the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act?

Worse is that in this case, the resolution of the DOJ panel was dated way back on Dec. 20, 2017 and would not have been known by the public if a DOJ insider has not furnished a copy thereof to a reporter. Such lack of transparency and inaction on the part of the DOJ for three months are highly suspicious indeed. They only give rise to a lot of ugly speculations against the DOJ Secretary and even against Duterte himself because he is the alter ego of the latter. The crime involved here is against the people and the persons involved are persons of public interest because of their known reputations, so it should not have been kept under wraps. It is good that despite the obvious attempt to hide this case, it was eventually exposed because it was only due to such exposure that prompted the DOJ Secretary to reverse the ruling of the panel of prosecutors due to public indignation. Otherwise, the erroneous ruling might have been sustained.

The second, and obviously more anomalous and highly controversial move of the DOJ is placing Janet Lim Napoles under the Witness Protection Program (WPP). Such action really placed Aguirre in a very bad light. It must be pointed out that Napoles has virtually admitted her guilt as the brains behind the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) or the Congressional Pork Barrel scam amounting to P10 billion. She even offered to return her share of the loot allegedly amounting to P2 billion. But the Ombudsman still filed five counts of plunder against her which are now pending before the Sandiganbayan. These are non-bailable offenses so she is detained in a government jail which is supposed to be well secured already such that placing her under the WPP seems to be unnecessary. So the DOJ’s move has once more raised a lot of eyebrows. Most people are now entertaining the belief that Napoles will be induced by this administration to name other legislators involved in the PDAF scam as part of a quid pro quo arrangement. And this belief has just been confirmed when Aguirre announced that Napoles has tagged Drilon, Trillanes, De Lima and Abad in the PDAF scam.

Obviously, the DOJ’s move in this connection is politically motivated. It must be recalled that Napoles is really close to the previous administration. In fact Noynoy himself has personally received Napoles in Malacanang and even accompanied to Camp Crame when she was arrested all the way to Fort Sto. Domingo in Sta. Rosa, Laguna where she was confined. At that time, she named only three Senators all belonging to then opposition party particularly Enrile, Revilla and Ejercito, although her list contains 11 other Senators and about 200 Congressmen/women belonging to the ruling Liberal Party at that time.

But more erroneous and highly questionable in Aguirre’s move to place Napoles under the WPP, is that this case is now being handled and under the supervision of the Ombudsman who filed plunder charges against Napoles. So it is the Ombudsman who should determine whether Napoles should be placed under the WPP and whether she is the least guilty as to qualify her to be a State witness. Clearly, the DOJ is usurping the Ombudsman’s power and authority in this regard.

As another friendly advice to Duterte and his administration therefore, they should stop playing politics and concentrate on rendering public service. After all they are now in power and appear to be supported by majority of the people as they themselves claim. So they should stop being so paranoid and refrain from continuously entertaining the thought that their critics and oppositionists are destabilizing this administration and are trying to topple the government. With all the powers and resources at their command, there is no point in being so paranoid.

* * *