DOJ defers probe of 10 ‘narco fiscals’

MANILA, Philippines — The hands of the justice department are also tied in investigating the alleged involvement of several prosecutors in the illegal drug trade after the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) declined to bare details of its so-called narco list.

Just like the Supreme Court, the DOJ has not been able to initiate its probe on the 10 prosecutors in the narco list due to the refusal of the PDEA to share information with the department.

Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra wanted an immediate investigation of the alleged narco prosecutors, but decided to defer it after PDEA director general Aaron Aquino said he would not share the names of the 10 prosecutors and 13 judges with the DOJ and SC while his agency is still validating their alleged involvement in drug trafficking.

“I already prepared a letter requesting for the names of the 10 prosecutors. But when DG Aquino said they cannot share the information yet, I held the transmittal of the letter and I will just wait for the results of their validation,” Guevarra said yesterday.

He lamented the decision of PDEA not to share the names after publicly announcing the alleged involvement of prosecutors in the drug trade.

“It is regretful that PDEA announced it before validation because everyone in the prosecution service as well as judges in the judiciary became a suspect at this point when the names are being withheld,” he argued.

Earlier, the DOJ chief said he plans to personally lead the fact-finding investigation against 10 prosecutors included in the narco list.

He said the involvement of prosecutors in the illegal drugs trade, if proven by evidence, is unacceptable.

The DOJ chief stressed that the administration of President Duterte implements a zero tolerance policy when it comes to involvement of government officials in illegal drugs – especially in his department that is tasked to prosecute drug suspects.

Guevarra explained that the DOJ need not wait for the results of PDEA’s probe since a parallel investigation could be conducted if the anti-narcotics agency would be willing to share its intelligence information.

The SC, for its part, has already ordered an investigation on the alleged involvement of 13 judges in the narco list of PDEA.

Last Tuesday, the high court authorized Associate Justice Diosdado Peralta to personally coordinate with PDEA for the list of names of the alleged narco judges. 

The SC stressed that “like in the past, it will and shall not tolerate any illegal or corrupt activities within its ranks.”

The SC had initiated an investigation on the four narco judges tagged by President Duterte in 2016 – Exequil Dagala of Dapa-Socorro, Surigao, Adriano Savillo of Iloilo City, Domingo Casiple of Aklan and Antonio Reyes of Baguio City.

After a probe by a special fact-finding panel led by retired associate justice Roberto Abad, the Court ordered an administrative investigation against Reyes while it cleared the three other judges.

Unlike officials of the executive and legislative branches, members of the judiciary are not covered by the administrative jurisdiction and disciplinary power of the Office of the Ombudsman. The judiciary has its own mechanism to investigate and discipline justices, judges and court personnel.

Sen. Panfilo Lacson has called on PDEA to share the names of the narco judges with the SC to allow the judiciary to conduct an investigation and the names be kept confidential until findings and actions of the Court have been made.   

Aquino aired frustration that their efforts are wasted with the dismissal of cases they have filed.

But he said that the judges and prosecutors on the list are not yet a priority as they are focusing their validation efforts on the case build-up against the 46 politicians named by President Duterte.

The PDEA chief said the list of judges, prosecutors and other drug personalities that includes 31 celebrities would still undergo validation, which he said would take time.