Given that the Court of Appeals granted her petition for the Office of the Ombudsman to act on her administrative complaints against former Justice Secretaries Vitaliano Aguirre II and Menardo Guevarra, former Senator Leila de Lima expected the Ombudsman to investigate both former secretaries.
“[O]r, at the very least, to require Guevarra to answer the administrative aspect of the case and defend his role in propping up criminal convicts as state witnesses even if they are disqualified from being granted immunity under the law,” said de Lima in a Sunday statement.
In a November 21 ruling, the CA Special 17th Division granted de Lima’s petition to reverse the Ombudsman’s decision junking her complaints in relation to the government’s use of convicted criminals as state witnesses in her illegal drug trading case.
”The assailed notices of the Ombudsman are hereby declared void for lack of due process. Accordingly, this case is remanded to the Ombudsman for appropriate action for a proper disposition of this case,” the CA said.
“Previously, the Ombudsman peremptorily dismissed the criminal and administrative cases I filed against the two, without even conducting an investigation or asking them to answer the complaint,” recounted de Lima in her Sunday statement.
“I appealed the administrative aspect of the complaint to the Court of Appeals and the criminal aspect to the Supreme Court. Hopefully, the SC will also decide favorably soon.”
De Lima was recently freed on bail after nearly seven years in detention on allegations that she was involved in the illegal drug trade inside the New Bilibid Prison during her term as DOJ chief.
She has consistently denied the charges and was acquitted in two of the drug cases filed against her.
Her first acquittal came in February 2021 when the Muntinlupa City RTC Branch 205 junked one of her three cases.
On May 12, the Muntinlupa RTC Branch 204 acquitted de Lima and Ronnie Dayan, her co-accused and former bodyguard, of an illegal drug trading charge on the grounds of reasonable doubt. — DVM, GMA Integrated News
