MANILA, Philippines - Sen. Leila de Lima said the cases filed against officials of the previous administration, including former president Benigno Aquino III, could be politically motivated or simply harassment.
De Lima, who served as justice secretary during the Aquino administration, said she was saddened by the filing of cases against Aquino, who finished his six-year term two weeks ago.
Aquino has been accused of criminal wrongdoing in the controversial Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP) and in the botched Mamasapano operation that resulted in the massacre of 44 members of the Philippine National Police-Special Action Force (SAF 44) in January 2015.
“It would’ve been okay if there was any basis or if the motives were legitimate,” De Lima said.
De Lima also said it is disappointing to see that the families of the slain SAF members are being used for the political agenda of the people behind the criminal complaints against Aquino.
She maintained that she could not see any possible criminal liability on the part of Aquino.
She pointed out that Aquino explained on several occasions that he was not fully informed about the actual situation on the ground when the clash between the SAF and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front was taking place.
“If the real situation on the ground was given then, the president would have given the proper orders. But it was not,” she added.
De Lima said instead of going after the former president, the focus of attention should be on the filing of criminal cases against those who killed the 44 SAF.
She recalled that when she stepped down as justice secretary in October last year, the Department of Justice was already conducting preliminary investigation on the criminal complaints.
“I was hoping that at this time the results of the preliminary investigation would’ve already been out and the people who should be charged were already charged. I’m not sure why there is a delay in the filing of cases,” she added.
Regarding the DAP, De Lima said there is also no basis to charge Aquino and former budget secretary Florencio Abad because they implemented the program in good faith.
De Lima said the DAP was clearly meant to help boost the economy by speeding up the use of public funds for priority projects, using the savings in the national budget.
“The Supreme Court has clarified that good faith is presumed. I can assure you that when the program was envisioned, the administration was in good faith, the president was in good faith, secretary Abad was in good faith,” De Lima said.
“No evidence has been presented showing that the in the course of the implementation of the program, that someone made money from this,” she added.
De Lima expressed confidence that Aquino and his allies would be able to justify their roles on the two issues and come up with good, valid defenses.