DOJ suspends Manila fiscal for failing to release detainees

MANILA, Philippines - Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II suspended on Friday Manila prosecutor Edward Tugonon for failing to follow his order to release three detainees whose drug cases have been dismissed.

Aguirre appointed his Lex Talionis fraternity brother Alexander Ramos, who currently heads the Department of Justice (DOJ) witness protection program, as officer-in-charge. President Duterte belongs to the same fraternity.

Aguirre said Tugonon did not comply with Department Circular (DC) No. 004, which states that a respondent whose case for violation of Republic Act 9165, the comprehensive anti-drug law, has been dismissed shall be immediately released from detention even if the case is pending before the DOJ for automatic review. This applies even if the penalty is reclusion perpetua, he said.

Aguirre said he issued the circular on Jan. 4, reversing DC No. 022 issued on Feb. 12, 2013 by former justice secretary and now Sen. Leila de Lima.

Under De Lima’s circular, certain respondents when arrested shall remain in detention while their respective cases are under automatic review even if the charges were dismissed during preliminary investigation.

De Lima’s circular was amended by DC No. 050 issued on Dec. 18, 2015 by then justice secretary Alfredo Benjamin Caguioa, who ordered that the respondent be immediately released from detention pending automatic review only if the case subject for the automatic review is not resolved within 30 days.

Aguirre said the two earlier issuances violate a person’s right to liberty.

Probe ordered

Last month, Aguirre told the National Bureau of Investigation to probe the case of Api Ang, who died in detention in April even if the drug charge against him was dismissed by the Manila prosecutor’s office months earlier.

Ang, 61, was arrested along with three relatives – all seniors – in an alleged raid on his hotel room on Nov. 21, 2016, with police officers reporting the seizure of 300 grams of shabu, P1.7 million in cash, drug paraphernalia and ammunition.

Tugonon’s office later dismissed the cases but Ang and his relatives remained in detention while their case underwent automatic review by the DOJ.

National Capital Region Police Office chief Director Oscar Albayalde has also ordered an investigation of 25 Manila police officers for arresting Ang and his relatives by allegedly planting drugs as evidence.

Albayalde issued the statement after Ang’s lawyer filed a complaint before Aguirre on the irregularities in the raid and the prosecutor’s handling of the case.