Daily Tribune
An official of the Department of Justice yesterday said the National Prosecution Service' panel of prosecutors is the right entity to handle the murder charges against suspended Bureau of Corrections chief Gerald Bantag and several others.
Justice Assistant Secretary and concurrent spokesperson, Atty. Mico Clavano, asserted as he defended the DoJ's preliminary investigation into the deaths of broadcaster Percy Lapid and middleman Cristito Villamor.
Bantag recently questioned the jurisdiction of the DoJ over his person, claiming it's the Office of the Ombudsman who should handle his case since he is a Salary Grade 30 official.
"For this case, for a murder case, we believe this venue, the National Prosecution Service and this panel of prosecutors is the most competent body to hear and resolve this case," said Clavano in an interview over CNN Philippines' The Source.
Clavano said the Office of the Ombudsman only has jurisdiction over cases involving corruption, graft, bribery, malversation and violations of the Code of Ethics of government officials and employees.
BuCor officer in charge Gregorio Catapang Jr. earlier said he will file plunder charges against BuCor officials involved in the release of funds for the upgrading of prison facilities.
Catapang said he discovered that 95 percent of the budget for the modernization of three of BuCor's seven prisons and penal farms have been released, but only 60 percent of the projects have been completed.
"It is very frustrating because 95 percent of the money has already been released, but the percentage of work is only 60 to 65 percent in the two penal colonies that we visited," he said.
The BuCor OIC was referring to the Iwahig Prison and Penal Farm in Palawan and the Davao Prison and Penal Farm in Davao del Norte.
He announced that he is scheduled to visit the Leyte Regional Prison in Southern Leyte.
P300-M budget
Aside from the Iwahig and Davao prisons, BuCor's other operating units include the New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa City, Abuyog Penal Colony in Leyte, Correctional Institute for Women in Mandaluyong City, Sablayan Prison and Penal Farm in Occidental Mindoro, and San Ramon Prison and Penal Farm in Zamboanga City.
Each of the prison facilities has a budget of P300 million.
Catapang said he reported this matter to Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla last Sunday.
"I said, if need be, I really don't feel guilty, I will file a plunder case against those involved in this," he was quoted as saying.
Clavano said since the cases filed against Bantag involve killings, the DoJ has jurisdiction to conduct the preliminary investigation. The suspended prison chief along with several others was charged with murder over the deaths of Lapid and Villamor.
"There may be other cases that may be filed against the respondent in the Ombudsman about his office. The digging, the animals and any other violation that we see where he really used his office as a way, a method, or a tool to perpetrate the crime, if the investigation on these other cases does merit the filing, it would be filed in the Ombudsman," he added.
Clavano described the motion for inhibition as speculative and hypothetical.
"They alleged certain facts that are not there. They are assuming things that are not present,"he said.
The camp of Bantag earlier sought the inhibition of DoJ prosecutors handling the preliminary investigation.
Atty. Rocky Balisong, counsel of Bantag, said the Office of the Ombudsman, not the DoJ, has exclusive jurisdiction over the hugely-controversial death case since the suspended prison chief's salary grade for his position is 30.
The lawyer said the filing of a motion for inhibition was anchored on lack of jurisdiction as they believed the case is within the jurisdiction of the Ombudsman.
He claimed that even if the DoJ has started the preliminary investigation, the Ombudsman can still take over the proceedings at any stage or time, though they will also file their counter-affidavit.
