Samar 2nd District Rep. Reynolds Michael Tan is seeking a meeting with the Department of Justice (DOJ) to submit official documents and seek an explanation of how the department handles long-pending Petitions for Review (PetRevs) and Motions for Reconsideration (MRs).

Tan, a member of the House Committee on Justice, said he is laying the groundwork for a possible congressional inquiry into cases that remain under departmental review for extended periods.

A petition for review before the DOJ is a formal appeal challenging a prosecutor’s resolution in a criminal complaint’s preliminary investigation.|

Tan recently wrote Acting Justice Secretary Fredderick Vida seeking the DOJ’s account of the status and procedural history of the pending MR in the nearly decade-old Alfredo Mañas Sr. case. He also asked about the department’s mechanisms for handling similar cases that remain unresolved for lengthy periods.

“Before doing so, however, I believe it is important and appropriate to obtain the Department’s official account and inputs regarding the status of the Enrique Mañas, Sr. case, the procedural history of the pending Motion for Reconsideration, and the Department’s existing mechanisms for addressing similar cases, if any, that remain under review for extended periods,” Tan said.

Tan said any congressional action would respect the DOJ’s independence and the rights of all parties.

He said any inquiry would be undertaken “with due regard for the independence of the Department, the rights of the accused, the interests of victims, and the proper boundaries between congressional oversight and pending prosecutorial or judicial proceedings.”

The broader objective, Tan said, is to determine whether the existing system delivers justice not only fairly but also within a reasonable period.

The case involves Mañas, a farmer from Samar who was ambushed by armed men outside his home in Sta. Margarita, Samar, in 2017.

The National Prosecution Service recommended the filing of charges against former military colonel Emilio Zosa and his co-accused in 2019. The Regional Trial Court in Tacloban subsequently issued a warrant of arrest in September 2021.

The prosecution was halted after then DOJ Undersecretary Adrian Sugay reversed the earlier disposition in December 2021.

Then Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla reversed Sugay’s disposition on 16 January 2025, reinstating the prosecution.

DOJ Prosecutor General Richard Fadullon subsequently ordered the filing of the criminal Information, which was received by the Tacloban RTC on 19 March 2026.

Zosa later filed an MR before the DOJ, bringing the case back under departmental review.

Tan said the issue extends beyond the pending MR in the Mañas case, raising broader questions about how the DOJ handles PetRevs and MRs that remain pending for extended periods.

His request for the DOJ’s official account could serve as a preliminary step toward a congressional examination of prolonged prosecutorial reviews, focused on the department’s procedures rather than the outcome of a particular pending case.