Suspension of prosecutors in Kerwin, Lim drug cases sought

MANILA, Philippines — Justice department prosecutors who cleared Peter Lim, Peter Co, Kerwin Espinosa and several others of drug charges may be suspended while being investigated for possible wrongdoing in their issuance of the decision.

In a 15-page resolution dated March 23, the Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission (PACC) recommended that assistant state prosecutor Michael John Humarang, senior assistant state prosecutor Rassendell Rex Gingyon and former acting prosecutor-general Jorge Catalan “be preventively suspended by the President pending further investigation of the case.”

A fourth prosecutor – now Lucena City judge Aristotle Reyes – should be subjected to lifestyle check by the Supreme Court, according to the PACC.

Apart from suspension, the agency also recommended that the prosecutors be charged with violation of Section 3(e) of Republic Act 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act for allegedly “failing, if not refusing, to set a clarificatory meeting in order to ascertain the truthfulness of the testimonies of the parties and the veracity of submitted documents” related to the cases against Lim, Co, Espinosa and others.

The PACC also recommended that the President issue a show cause order to Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) personnel who filed the drug charges against Espinosa and Lim et al. 

The CIDG filed the cases on July 5 last year. The DOJ panel of prosecutors dismissed the cases on Dec. 20 or over five months later.

The dismissal was prompted by “alleged inconsistencies” in the statements of lone witness Marcelo Adorco. The PACC said the prosecutors “took as gospel truth the evidence of Peter Go Lim, i.e. his passport and medical records to show that he was not in Thailand as alleged by Adorco.” 

In his statement, Adorco had said that he supplied shabu “in staggering amounts” to Espinosa for more than two years, and that Lim met him and Espinosa in Thailand’s capital Bangkok to deliver 50 kilos of shabu in June 2015.

“Through gross inexcusable negligence or not ferreting the truth as regards an issue that could easily be threshed out in a clarificatory hearing, the panel of prosecutors dismissed the case against all the respondents, causing undue injury to the government and its drive against illegal drugs,” the PACC resolution read.

PACC commissioner Greco Belgica told reporters Humarang, Gingoyon and Catalan must be suspended so they “will not have the power to keep documents and exercise influence” while being investigated.

Belgica explained Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II could not be included in the probe, because the latter has not received a copy of the resolution dismissing the drug cases against Lim, Co, Espinosa and others.

Meanwhile, the PACC also revealed filing three resolutions subjecting all government officials under Salary Grade 26 to lifestyle check, giving rewards to tipsters against corrupt officials and deputizing informers nationwide.

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