Prosecutors in Kerwin, Lim drug cases defended
Government prosecutors yesterday rallied behind their colleagues in the Department of Justice (DOJ) who are in hot water for junking the drug charges against self-confessed drug lord Kerwin Espinosa, businessman Peter Lim and several others.
The State Prosecutors and Prosecution Attorneys Association (SPPAA) defended Assistant State Prosecutors Michael John Humarang and Aristotle Reyes, who dismissed the complaint of the Philippine National Police-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) against Lim, Espinosa and others.
The SPPAA also slammed the Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission (PACC) for recommending the suspension of the prosecutors involved in the case.
“As prosecutors, we are bound to decide each case based on the evidence presented before us. We can neither take popular opinion nor public outcry as ground for filing a case or dismissing a complaint,” the SPPAA stressed in the statement read by their head, State Prosecutor Jolly de Claro-Mendoza, during the flag-raising ceremony at the DOJ.
“Evidence submitted is the essential consideration that all prosecutors weigh in every case that we resolve.
“Fair play demands that the public observe the same principle before making any action and avoid dampening the reputation of others without cause. We espouse their resolve and stand by them as testament to upholding the rule of law and in truly prosecuting crimes without fear or favor,” they added.
The SPPAA said it fully supports the two prosecutors as well as Prosecutor General Jorge Catalan and Senior Deputy State Prosecutor Rassendel Rex Gingoyon, who both approved the controversial resolution.
The SPPAA also said the PACC’s recommendation for the suspension of the prosecutors involved in the case is “reckless and malicious.”
The PACC, headed by Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption chair Dante Jimenez, recommended to Malacañang the preventive suspension of Catalan, Gingoyon and Humarang. It also recommended a life- style check on Reyes, now a judge in Lucena City.