MANILA, Philippines - The Senate will have limited powers in investigating the downgrading of charges against members of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) team involved in the killing of Albuera, Leyte Mayor Rolando Espinosa and fellow inmate Raul Yap inside a sub-provincial jail in November of last year, Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II said yesterday.
Although he vowed to cooperate in the inquiry, Aguirre expressed belief the Senate has no power to review or reverse the Department of Justice (DOJ) resolution that allowed the 19 accused – led by Supt. Marvin Marcos – to be temporarily released from detention last week.
“They cannot investigate the resolution. They could investigate the circumstances in the issuance of the resolution, but I believe the Senate has no power to overturn any resolution coming from the Department of Justice,” Aguirre said in a phone interview.?“That is not the procedure. That is not their function. Only the courts can overturn our resolutions. There is no rule that the Senate could (do such function),” he stressed.
The DOJ chief further explained the downgrading of charges against the CIDG men is not yet final as there are still available legal remedies.
“The process is not yet done. An aggrieved party could still file a motion for reconsideration on the DOJ resolution or file a motion before the court if they think the downgrading was wrong,” he said.
“The court is always the final arbiter of this controversy, so let’s just follow the rules,” he appealed.
Among those who called for an inquiry into the matter was Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon, a former justice secretary.
He recalled how Aguirre, during an earlier Senate inquiry into the incident, labeled the operation as an “overkill,” considering that 19 policemen served the search warrant for a single weapon at a provincial jail when only three or four persons could have done the job.
“Why did the DOJ suddenly reverse its earlier decision, which was supported by ample evidence? Why not allow the court to determine if it’s murder or homicide?” Drilon asked.
But on the move of the House of Representatives to issue show cause order against Court of Appeals justices in the so-called “Ilocos 6” case, Drilon called on congressmen to follow the Rules of Court and instead avail of remedies in court.
Aguirre also denied insinuations that there could be collusion between the DOJ, Philippine National Police and even the Baybay City regional trial court judge who granted bail to the accused.
“That’s speculation. They must prove it,” he commented.
The DOJ chief likewise belied allegations that the downgrading of charges was pursuant to the reported pronouncement of President Duterte that he would defend the CIDG men who killed Espinosa.
“President Duterte had no hand here. I keep on saying that the President never talked to me about DOJ matters since I was appointed here,” he insisted.
Aguirre earlier denied having a hand in the downgrading of charges, saying he was not the signatory of the resolution last May 29 that downgraded the charges from murder to homicide, which is a bailable offense.
Still, he explained that the resolution signed by DOJ Undersecretary Reynate Orceo should be accorded presumption of regularity, especially since reversal of findings of investigating prosecutors through petition for review is allowed in DOJ processes.
Aguirre added that he could vouch for the integrity of Orceo.
Last March, the DOJ indicted Marcos and company after a panel of prosecutors chaired by Senior Assistant State Prosecutor Lilian Doris Alejo found in preliminary investigation that the killings of Espinosa and Yap inside the Baybay jail were attended by treachery and that the respondents used stealth to carry out the raid. ?Marcos and 10 of his men were charged with two counts of murder for allegedly being involved in the killings of Espinosa and Yap.