Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre on Saturday said that embattled Commission on Elections chairman Andres Bautista is immune from any criminal charges, unless he will be impeached.
Aguirre explained that the Constitution provides that government officials, while still in office, are immune from any suit until his term ends.
“He’s still an impeachable officer and immune from suit,” Aguirre said.
Bautista’s term, who was appointed by former President Benigno Aquino III in 2015, will expire on 2022.
“The only suit that can be filed against him is an impeachment suit,” said Aguirre, despite his order for a probe of Bautista’s corruption allegations.
He added that charges can be filed against Bautista if the latter will resign as poll chief.
The Secretary has already ordered the Presidential Commission on Good Government to investigate the activities of Bautista when he was still PCGG chairman.
In Department Order No. 551, Aguirre instructed the PCGG to “closely coordinate with the National Bureau of Investigation [NBI], the Commission on Audit [COA] and the Department of Justice [DOJ] in the conduct of its investigation and is further authorized to prosecute cases, when necessary, in accordance with its powers under Executive Order Nos. 1, 2, 14 and 14-A above stated and other relevant laws.”
Among those he wanted checked by the PCGG was a report of the COA on “more than P100-m unliquidated cash disbursements obtained from the Philippine National Bank [PNB] Dollar Escrow Accounts of the PCGG during the time of Chairman J. Andres Bautista as PCGG Chairman and thereafter.”
He also wanted the PCGG to look into the reported abuse of resources of PCGG sequestered and surrendered entities committed during the chairmanship of Andres “including but not limited to the millions of pesos worth of gift checks and gift cards received by J. Andres Bautista and his staff, including those supposedly given to the members of the media.”
The Secretary sought the scrutiny of ill-gotten wealth, kickbacks and commissions Bautista may have received from, but not limited to, “the alleged payment of purported excessive billings made to law firms supposedly connected to him.”
Aguirre also asked to check “PCGG cases (both civil and criminal) which were dismissed, compromised, or with adverse judgments.”
The DOJ chief also reminded the PCGG of “the recovery and forfeiture of assets under the name of Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos and their cronies that unexplainably remain unsequestered.”