A GROUP of prosecutors has expressed opposition to the Presidential Anti-Crime Commission's (PACC) recommendation to order the filing of administrative charges against prosecutors who dismissed the cases against drug lord Kerwin Espinosa and Cebuano businessman Peter Lim.
The State Prosecutors and Prosecution Attorneys Association Inc. (SPPAAI), through its president State Prosecutor Jolly de Claro-Mendoza, said Monday, April 2, that the PACC's decision is "reckless and malicious."
De Claro-Mendoza echoed the statement of the association after the flag ceremony at the Department of Justice (DOJ) on Monday.
The PACC last week recommended the preventive suspension and the filing of graft charges against Assistant State Prosecutor Michael John Humarang, OIC-Senior Deputy State Prosecutor Rassendel Rex Gingoyon, and Acting Prosecutor General Jorge Catalan for "manifest partiality, evident bad faith and gross inexcusable negligence" in rendering its decision dated December 20.
It has also recommended a lifestyle check on former assistant state prosecutor and now Regional Trial Court Judge Aristotle Reyes.
But the SPPAAI expressed objection to PACC's move, saying the prosecutors are bound to decide a case solely based on evidence, not on public outcry.
"We can neither take popular opinion nor public outcry as ground for filing a case or dismissing a complaint. Evidence submitted is the essential consideration that all prosecutors weigh in every case that we resolve," the group said.
It advised the Executive department to observe the same principle: be fair on rendering a decision regardless of public opinion before making any action.
It also advised the PACC to "avoid dampening the reputation of others without cause."
The DOJ panel, in a resolution made public on March 12, dismissed the charges for violation of Section 26 (b) (conspiracy) in relation to Section 5 (sale) of Republic Act 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002 filed against Lim, Espinosa and several others for lack of evidence.
READ: DOJ junks drug charges vs Peter Lim, Kerwin Espinosa
The decision, though, was met with disdain from both members of the opposition and the administration, including President Rodrigo Duterte.
The public outcry prompted Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II to order the conduct of reinvestigation on the drug charges against the accused.
Aguirre has also designated a new panel of prosecutors that will decide on the drug complaint filed by the Philippine National Police against the named respondents.
READ: DOJ reverses dismissal of charges vs alleged drug lords
The preliminary hearing will begin on April 12. (SunStar Philippines)