The incoming administration of President-elect Rodrigo Duterte will investigate the liabilities of government officials over unconstitutional acts committed under the Disbursement Acceleration Program.
Incoming Justice secretary Vitaliano Aguirre IIon Tuesday revealed that this was the marching order of Duterte to pursue corruption cases.
“We are going to investigate the DAP. If the evidence warrants, we are going to file cases,” Aguirre said, in a television interview.
According to him, Duterte has instructed him to apply the law equally and file charges no matter who the respondents would be.
“He [Duterte] told me that charges should be filed no matter who gets hurt. There should be no selective justice,” said Aguirre, who was Duterte’s law school classmate and fraternity brother in San Beda College.
Aguirre did not elaborate on who would be covered by the investigation, but the Supreme Court had already set the grounds when it voided the DAP with finality in February last year.
The SC ruled that acts and practices under the DAP, an economic stimulus program designed to address government underspending, violated the constitutional doctrine of separation of powers and the provision prohibiting inter-branch transfer of appropriations.
In their separate opinions, Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio and Associate Justice Arturo Brion have pointed to President Benigno Aquino III and Budget Secretary Florencio “Butch” Abad as “authors” of DAP who could be held liable over the illegal acts.
The two senior justices emphasized that President Aquino and Abad are not covered by the doctrine of operative fact and cannot invoke good faith in evading liability for unconstitutional acts, particularly the withdrawal of unobligated allotments from implementing agencies and their use as savings prior to end of fiscal year as well as the cross-border transfers of savings of the executive to augment funds of agencies outside the department.
The Palace released some P144.38 billion in DAP funds from 2011 to 2013.
Apart from the corruption cases, drug cases would be a priority by the Department of Justice in the next administration, Aguirre said.
Aguirre said he believes that there is a need for better, systematic handling of evidence in drug cases.
“Respondents in drug cases get off the hook because of some loopholes in the procedure of handling evidence,” lamented Aguirre, who has been in law practice for 44 years.
Aguirre also vowed to start the anti-illegal drugs campaign in the Bureau of Corrections, an attached agency of the DoJ supervising the New Bilibid Prison and other penitentiaries in the country.
“The biggest drug lords there (in Bilibid) are able to manufacture drugs inside. BuCor employees are also involved so we have to institute more reforms. If we need to replace all jail guards there, we will,” he said.
He also committed to implement reforms in the DOJ, including possible adjustment of prosecutors to prevent corruption.
“DOJ prosecutors are the front liners. But salary of some of them is not included in the national budget. They just rely on per diem, allowances from LGUs (local government units),” Aguirre lamented.
Aguirre added that he is considering closing his law firm once he assumes his post in the DOJ in July.