ONE of the state prosecutors who recommended the dismissal of drug charges against self-confessed drug distributor Kerwin Espinosa and Cebu businessman Peter Lim denied on Thursday, March 15, that he was paid to drop the case.
Aristotle Reyes, a former assistant state prosecutor who was promoted to the Regional Trial Court a month after the ruling was issued, maintained that the case was weak.
"Actually medyo syempre as a former prosecutor nakakalungkot na parang ganyan 'yung naging resulta nung trabaho namin na hindi naman kami pwedeng mag-decide against sa isang tao na wala namang ebidensya at dahil lang sa public clamor," he said in a radio interview early Thursday.
(I am sad that this happened. We could not pin down a person without evidence or just because of public clamor.)
"Pero we welcome the investigation. We will submit to the investigation kasi para ma-clear din kami kung ano 'yung mga insinuations na sinasabi against us," he added, referring to the investigation that Justice Vitaliano Aguirre II ordered on him and other prosecutors who recommended the dismissal of the case.
(But we welcome the investigation. We will submit to the investigation to clear our names.)
Reyes, now a judge in Lucena City, Quezon, said he and state prosecutor Michael John Humarang based their decision on the evidence presented to them.
"Sa prinesent ng CIDG napakahina (ng kaso). Nag-iisa 'yung witness. Meron naman sana silang corroborative witness and yet hindi nila ito prinisent. Meron pang isang witness pero nung pinag-testify nila sa Manila court and yet nagrecant," he said.
(Based on what the CIDG presented, the case was very weak. There was only one witness. They had a corroborative witness but they did not present him. There was another witness who, when asked to testify in court, recanted.)
"Hindi kami pwedeng kumuha ng ebidensya para sa parties. Otherwise magiging lawyers kami ng CIDG," he said.
"Kung in the course of our preliminary investigation nakita namin during the Senate hearing may admission itong si kerwin Espinosa, kunin natin ang transcript nito, hindi namin trabaho yan. Otherwise, kami na ang nag-iipon ng ebidensya in favor ng CIDG. Trabaho yan ng CIDG. Bakit hindi nila nagawa yan?," he added.
Reyes and Humarang issued on December 20, 2017 the 41-page resolution dropping the drug charges filed by the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) Major Crimes Investigation Unit (MICU) against Espinosa, Lim, Peter Co, Marcelo Adorco, Max Miro, Lovely Impal and at least 15 others including their alleged accomplices.
The prosecutors said in its resolution that the statement of the CIDG's sole witness, Adorco, was "rife with inconsistencies and contradictions, and run against the standards of human experience and the logical course of reality."
The ruling was approved by Senior Assistant State Prosecutor Rassendell Rex Gingoyon and Acting Prosecutor General Jorge Catalan, Jr.
Aguirre scored the CIDG for not using Espinosa's admission before a Senate inquiry in 2016 that he was involved in illegal drugs.
On Wednesday, CIDG director Roel Obusan said they were confident that case would prosper with only one witness, considering that Adorco was Espinosa's driver-bodyguard and has direct participation in his illegal activities.
He also cited the controversial case of hazing victim Horacio Castillo. The DOJ indicted the fratmen allegedly involved in the hazing based on the statement of the sole witness who was physically present during the initiation rites.
The CIDG has appealed the dismissal. Obusan said he might use his subpoena powers and include Espinosa's admission to strengthen the case. (SunStar Philippines)