Perez to take PAGC case to High Court

The lawyers of former justice secretary Hernando Perez are planning to elevate their client’s case to a higher court.

This developed after the motion for disqualification they filed against Presidential Anti-Graft Commission (PAGC) chief Dario Rama and their appeal for the dismissal of Perez’s cases was turned down by the anti-graft body.

Perez is facing an obstruction of justice charge, among other complaints, before the PAGC in view of a memorandum he issued directing Immigration Commissioner Andrea Domingo to refrain from disclosing the travel records of the President, Vice President and members of Congress and the Cabinet.

The former justice chief said that his memo was "in view of the present threats of terrorism that may endanger the lives and safety of our national leaders."

But the PAGC filed a formal complaint against Perez, saying that in issuing the memo, the former Cabinet member violated two provisions of the Constitution — Presidential Decree 1829 for obstruction of justice and Administrative Code of 1987 and Republic Act 6713, or the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees.

Perez did not appear before the PAGC during the first hearing of the case yesterday, but was represented by six lawyers.

"There was no due process because he (Rama) denied every motion we filed without us being heard," said Marcial Balgos, lead counsel of Perez.

"We are going to bring this up to the higher court to question the jurisdiction of PAGC (on this case)," he added but noted that the battery of lawyers have yet to decide on which court to file their grievance.

Rama, however, denied that the PAGC did not give Perez the due process but said that there will be nothing to prevent the lawyers of Perez to elevate the issue to a higher court or to seek a temporary restraining order if they want to. – Katherine Adraneda