The newest ‘czar’ vs corruption

If there is someone in the Cabinet of President Rodrigo Duterte who can keep him in check from meting out extra-legal punishment, it appears to be Department of Justice (DOJ) Secretary Menardo Guevarra. By way of a joke, President Duterte pointed to the presence of Sec.Guevarra that stopped him to punish the 44 Bureau of Immigration (BI) personnel who he originally wanted to make them eat the money they allegedly got as bribe to allow entry of illegal aliens at the airports.

All the BI personnel accused in the so-called “pastillas” scam were summoned to proceed to Malacanang where they were dressed down by no less than the Chief Executive. It was named after a local sweet milk delicacy because the money was purportedly rolled in a thin white paper to conceal handing out the bribe to the erring BI personnel at the airport.

As the DOJ Secretary, Guevarra is the immediate supervisor of the BI, being one of the attached agencies of his Department. Guevarra attended the face-to-face confrontation meeting of the accused BI men with the President at Malacanang last Monday night.

Guesting in our weekly Kapihan sa Manila Bay news forum via Zoom Webinar two days later, Guevarra retold to us one of the female police aides of the President took out a box and began distributing one “pastillas” each to the BI personnel. “Out of deference to the Secretary of Justice, then he (President) mumbled something like ‘Baka kasuhan ako ng grave coercion nito.’ But he himself said: ‘May pera dyan, kainin n’yo,” Guevarra narrated. “But he did not insist for some reasons,” the DOJ chief added.

Apparently Guevarra’s presence was enough to deter the President’s urge to make the accused BI personnel immediately suffer the punishment as swift as they committed the alleged corruption.

In broader perspective, the DOJ Secretary personifies due process in our justice system. In a democracy like ours, Guevarra stressed, the rights of the accused are also protected under our country’s 1987 Constitution. Himself a lawyer and a long-time state prosecutor in Davao City during his first stint in government, President Duterte obviously values and holds in high esteem the stature of his DOJ Secretary.

The 66-year old Guevarra has, in fact, twice declined his nomination to become justice at the Supreme Court. Being appointed to the highest court of the land is a dream come true and aspiration for every lawyer worth his salt. That’s why he is not totally closing the door future nomination to the High Court. When I asked him why he declined the SC nomination – not just once but twice – Guevarra quipped he felt his services are more needed at this time by the President and the Filipino people to stay on his job at the DOJ.

This can be seen from the series of special assignments that President Duterte issued directly to the DOJ Secretary. Obviously, these were very clear manifestations of the President’s trust and confidence on Guevarra.

Before the outbreak of the 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic in March this year, President Duterte designated the DOJ to review and lead the crafting of the new concession contracts with the Manila Water Co. Inc. and the Maynilad Services Inc. During our Kapihan sa Manila Bay news forum, Guevarra disclosed President Duterte gave the green light on the DOJ review panel’s proposed revisions of the existing contracts with the two water concessionaires of the state-owned Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS).

According to him, the President has approved their recommendations for the MWSS to renegotiate with the two concessionaires, among other things, to remove certain provisions of the contracts that are deemed onerous to consumers and highly disadvantageous terms for the government.

Subsequently, the President tapped the DOJ Secretary to look into the reported anomalous transactions at the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) on reimbursement claims related to the COVID-19 pandemic as exposed at the Senate hearings. On orders of the President, the DOJ Secretary formed Task Force PhilHealth. At the end of its 30-day investigation, TF PhilHealth submitted their 177-page report, recommending to President Duterte to “strongly admonish and remind the Chairman and members of the Board.” The ex officio Board chairman of the PhilHealth is Guevarra’s fellow Cabinet official, Department of Health (DOH) Secretary Francisco Duque III.

Just two weeks ago, President Duterte designated the DOJ Secretary to lead a Task Force Against Corruption that would intensify his administration’s campaign to go after grafters in the government. As “anti-graft czar,” the President empowered the DOJ Secretary to dig out the corrupt wherever they may be found in the government during the remaining 20 months of his administration ending on June 30, 2022.

Guevarra was joined in our Kapihan sa Manila Bay by DOJ undersecretary Emmeline Villar who acts as the official spokesman of the newly created Task Force Against Corruption. Also in attendance were DOJ undersecretary Adrian Sugay; Prosecutor-General Ben Malcontento; newly appointed Chief State Counsel George Ortha III; and Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) official spokesman Gabriel Chaclag.

After updating us on the status of the newest DOJ-led Task Force, I ribbed Guevarra why he did not include the BI among the five top priority list of government agencies they would investigate. Guevarra even described them as the “usual suspects,” namely: PhilHealth; the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR); the Bureau of Customs (BOC); the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH); and the Land Registration Authority (LRA). Incidentally, the LRA is also DOJ-attached agency.

“It’s because the BI is the most investigated already,” Guevarra quipped and guffawed.

But making the accused person eat money constitutes what is called as “cruel and unusual punishment” in a civilized society like ours. While he maybe newest the “czar” in the war against corruption, the DOJ Secretary is not one to countenance it.