Keeping faith in the rule of law

The Department of Justice always faces the challenge to live up to its name and keep the people’s faith in the rule of law. Being under the executive branch, the DOJ has to balance the interest of the government and the rights of those who face charges before it.

Most political cases the DOJ had to handle involved destabilization attempts against the Arroyo administration. Aside from the soldiers or the civilians who come out against the government, those perceived to be behind the moves are normally political figures from the opposition and the past Estrada administration.

Charges against the rich and famous normally land at the DOJ before the courts. And that is why its prosecutors and state counsels are under tight watch all the time. A new secretary, former House deputy speaker Raul Gonzalez, assumed office on Sept. 1, replacing Merceditas Gutierrez who was appointed chief presidential legal counsel.

This year, a rape case against a senator was dismissed, six players of the premier league Philippine Basketball Association, or "Fil-shams," were ordered deported and parricide charges were filed against a mall owner for the shooting of his wife in 2003.

On the economic front, the DOJ also issued a new legal opinion lifting the 60-40 percent nationality requirement on international airfreight forwarders to attract more foreign investments.

Other pending high-profile legal issues that the DOJ handles are the Kuratong Baleleng rubout case against Sen. Panfilo Lacson and 33 other police officers, the murder of veteran actress Nida Blanca that remains unresolved after three years and the tax evasion charges against business tycoon Lucio Tan and his co-accused.

In 2003, the DOJ filed coup d’etat charges against the 31 leaders of the July 27 mutiny in Makati City but exonerated 290 other enlisted military men for lack of evidence.

However, the rebellion charges filed by the police against former senator Gregorio Honasan and Laarni Enriquez, mistress of deposed President Joseph Estrada, and several other people are still under evaluation to this day.

Honasan allegedly instigated the coup with his National Recovery Program while Enriquez’s townhouse in Mandaluyong City was supposedly used by the mutineers. Estrada’s former executive secretary, Ramon Cardenas, was arrested at the height of the mutiny and was charged with rebellion since several belongings of the soldiers were allegedly found in his house in Dasmariñas Village in Makati City.

Saycon, Montayre Charged

This year, while the police and the DOJ exercised restraint in filing charges against alleged conspirators planning to oust President Arroyo using movie actor Fernando Poe Jr.’s funeral march last Dec. 22, two leaders of socio-civic groups had been charged for alleged separate attempts to destabilize the government.

The DOJ said though there were moves and inflammatory statements that were inciting to sedition, the government decided not to press charges since nothing was carried out to create trouble.

But earlier this year, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) filed before the DOJ inciting to sedition charges against Council on Philippine Affairs secretary-general Pastor Saycon, two other civilians and six Army captains for trying to destabilize the Arroyo administration through various meetings and a clandestine press conference aired on Jan. 28.

Saycon allegedly arranged the meetings and the press conference held by a certain Boy Montelibano, a certain Commander Larry Andes, Captains Rembert Baylosis, Philip Esmeralda, Peter Edwin Navarro, Marcos Serafica, Mohammad Yusop Hasan and law graduate Baltazar Asadon who identified himself as "Captain Gabay" in order to air grievances against the Arroyo administration and the military hierarchy.

The DOJ also elevated to the court the rebellion charges against former nun and People’s Consultative Assembly secretary-general Linda Montayre for being the alleged brains behind moves to stop the proclamation of Mrs. Arroyo through bombings of several areas and assassination of prominent political figures.

The DOJ said Montayre was positively identified by lawyer Roberto Camarista and several other people as the one who directed them to assassinate several personalities and bomb places in Metro Manila. The plans, however, were thwarted by the authorities.

Camarista said Montayre and another respondent, Benjamin Sim, agreed to finance and take care of the logistical needs of their actions. Sim had been charged with rebellion earlier.

Montayre denied the allegations and said she was being framed up by Mrs. Arroyo and her husband, First Gentleman Jose Miguel "Mike" Arroyo because of several complaints she filed against them as well as the several exposés she made involving high-level corruption in government.

Osmeña Exonerated, Martel Indicted

The DOJ dismissed the rape case filed against former senator John Osmeña by a self-confessed male prostitute during the height of the campaign for the May 10 elections.

In a four-page resolution, Senior State Prosecutor Emilie Fe de los Santos said she found no probable cause to indict Osmeña for the crime of rape as a thorough and careful examination of the pleadings, documents and other evidence submitted by the parties showed the innocence of the former senator.

Citing records, De los Santos said that it was physically and humanly impossible for Osmeña to have been at the alleged scene of the crime in Tagaytay City between 5 p.m. and 9 p.m. on Feb. 5 because he was in the Senate building in Pasay City.s

On the other hand, after getting much criticism for junking the case against the scion of Harrison Plaza owner, Robert Puyat Martel, DOJ Secretary Raul Gonzalez reversed the ruling of Senior State Prosecutor Robert Lao and ordered filing of frustrated parricide charges against Martel for attempting to kill his wife, Melissa, during a violent fight inside their condominium unit in Makati City on Aug. 26, 2003.

Gonzalez said based on overwhelming evidence on record, the shooting was clearly not accidental since Martel was the one holding the gun that needed to be cocked and fired.

Liberalizing Air Cargo Industry

The DOJ issued Opinion No. 98 reversing Opinion No. 49 dated May 25 that imposed the citizenship requirement on airfreight forwarders being public utilities that should comply with constitutional limitation on foreign ownership.

The new opinion said it was important to come up with a definitive stand on the matter to attract more investments, create jobs and spur economic growth.

Gonzalez noted the DOJ on Sept. 11, 1946 and in Opinion Nos. 218 and 71 issued in 1975 and 1976, respectively said public utilities engaged exclusively in international commerce were beyond the purview of constitutional provision limiting the operation to the citizens of the Philippines or to corporations and entities 60 percent of the capital of which should be owned by Filipinos.

Opinion Nos. 20 and 49 issued in 1999 and May 25, 2004, respectively, on the other hand, said as public utilities, airfreight forwarders should be covered by the citizenship requirement.

Fil-Shams Told To Go

The DOJ also ordered summary deportation of six Philippine Basketball Association players for being fake Filipino citizens.

Gonzalez implemented the 50-page report of a four-man committee tasked to look into the cases of eight PBA players whom the Senate investigated for being "Fil-shams."

The DOJ committee upheld most of the Senate findings that Asi Taulava of Talk N Text, Mick Pennisi and Davonn Harp of Red Bull, John Ordonio of Alaska, Rudy Hatfield of Coca-Cola and Alex Crisano of Ginebra manufactured or tampered with documents to show they got Filipino lineage to be able to play in the country’s premier pro league.

Only Dorian Peña of San Miguel and Andy Seigle of Ginebra were able to prove their Filipino citizenship.

The deportation proceedings against Taulava, however, are being held in abeyance until the injunction issued by a Manila regional trial court on Sept. 6, 2003 is lifted.

The DOJ also directed the NBI to form a special task force that would look into possible perjury and falsification charges that could be filed against the team owners, managers, talent scouts and sports agents as well as civil registrars responsible for the production of spurious documents of the six Fil-shams.