Guevarra, Aguirre unfazed by Leila complaint

Solicitor General Menardo Guevarra yesterday said the handling of the drug cases against former Senator Leila de Lima during his term as justice secretary was in accordance with the law.

Guevarra was responding to De Lima's call for the Office of the Ombudsman to start its investigation to determine if he (Guevarra) and Vitaliano Aguirre II should be held administratively liable for their use of convicted felons to testify in the drug cases against her.

De Lima wants Guevarra and Aguirre investigated for their actions while serving as secretaries of the Department of Justice.

De Lima's call came after the Court of Appeals reversed and set aside the Ombudsman's decision dismissing the complaint against the two over the government's use of convicts to testify against her.

The former lawmaker said her two predecessors violated Section 10 of Republic Act 6981, or the Witness Protection, Security and Benefit Act, when they used felons as witnesses against her.

Awaiting order

Under the law, individuals convicted of any crime involving moral turpitude cannot be admitted to the government's Witness Protection Program and made prosecution witnesses.

"I understand that the CA merely remanded the case to the Office of the Ombudsman. So, let's wait for what the Office of the Ombudsman will do," Guevarra said.

"In any event, I am ready to submit my comment if required. As justice secretary, all my acts had always been in accordance with the law," he said. Guevarra served as DoJ chief from 2018 to 2022 in the administration of then President Rodrigo Duterte.

Meanwhile, Aguirre said he would just wait for the Ombudsman's action on the CA ruling.

"I have not been furnished a copy of her complaint since its filing. This is the first time I have been informed of such. I will just await the order from the Ombudsman to answer or comment on the complaint," Aguirre, who is now one of the commissioners of the National Police Commission, said.

Aside from granting De Lima's petition to reverse the Ombudsman's decision in her case against Aguirre and Guevarra, the CA also ordered the Ombudsman to act on De Lima's complaints again.

The testimonies of high-profile inmates at the New Bilibid Prison led to the filing of three drug cases against De Lima before the Muntinlupa City Regional Trial Court in 2017.

Arrest warrants were issued against De Lima which led to her detention for more than six years.

The Muntinlupa RTC junked two of the three drug charges against the former senator. On 13 November, Muntinlupa RTC Branch 206 Presiding Judge Gener Gito allowed De Lima to post bail in her remaining drug case.