The Department of Justice’s (DOJ) promotions board has no role in, nor any visibility over, actions taken by other offices after submitting its recommendations, Prosecutor General Richard Fadullon said Wednesday.
This comes amid an Ombudsman inquiry where resigned Undersecretary Adrian Bersamin was accused of name-dropping President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. while prosecutors’ appointments were being processed.
“I cannot give any comment on this,” Fadullon said when asked about claims raised before the Office of the Ombudsman involving Bersamin.
The National Prosecution Service’s (NPS) Selection and Promotions Board (SPB), Fadullon said, is limited to screening applicants and endorsing its choices to the Secretary of Justice.
“The Selection and Promotions Board of the NPS submits its recommendations to the SOJ,” he said. “What happens in the Office of the Secretary insofar as the evaluation of our recommendations is beyond us anymore. More so, what happens when the SOJ transmits its final recommendation to Malacañang.”
The board, he added, only learns the outcome once the appointments are released by the Office of the President.
“The next time we are actually informed is when there are already appointments,” he said. “The SPB does not have access to such appointments before it comes out.”
Mr. Marcos earlier this week accepted the resignation of Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman, and Undersecretary Bersamin, who is a son of the executive secretary’s nephew, after their departments were mentioned in allegations related to the flood control anomaly currently under investigation.