MANILA, Philippines – Senator Leila de Lima on Friday, December 2, filed a motion before the Department of Justice, seeking to inhibit Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II and his team of prosecutors from hearing the 4 cases filed against her.

De Lima also sought the suspension of the DOJ’s preliminary investigation and the subsequent turnover of the cases to the Ombudsman, saying the DOJ-led probe is “seriously tainted” and “compromised” because of Aguirre, a close friend and appointee of her number one accuser, President Rodrigo Duterte.

“The integrity of the investigation in these cases appears to be seriously tainted and deeply compromised as no less than the President and the DOJ Secretary had prejudged the guilt of respondent Senator De Lima,” the petition said.

“In this environment, where the President and the DOJ Secretary have complete control and supervision over the work of their subordinates at the DOJ, it is a foregone conclusion that the conduct and the results of the investigation will not be impartial and objective,” the motion said.

De Lima explained that the various public pronouncements of Duterte and Aguirre already prejudged her supposed guilt pending investigation. (READ: Duterte to De Lima: Resign, hang yourself)

The senator reiterated Aguirre has served as her “special” and “personal” prosecutor through his media interviews.

These, she said, are “indubitably implicit instructions to the investigating prosecutors to file cases in court regardless of actual evidence.”

De Lima on Friday skipped the preliminary investigation of the DOJ, where she was to receive the copy of the 4 criminal complaints against her on her alleged involvement in illegal drugs.

The senator is the subject of complaints filed by the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption, former National Bureau of Investigation directors Reynaldo Esmeralda and Ruel Lasala, and convicted carnapper and kidnapper Jaybee Sebastian.

She was also the subject of a congressional probe, where high-level convicts mostly granted immunity from suit, accused her of receiving money from them through her former security aide and boyfriend Ronnie Dayan.

Ombudsman has sole jurisdiction

De Lima has formally asked the DOJ to refer the 4 cases against her to the Office of the Ombudsman, saying it  does not have only the exclusive authority and sole jurisdiction but also the “impartiality” to probe charges against her.

“Considering the partiality, bias, and lack of objectivity of the Secretary of Justice and the panel of investigating prosecutors in these cases, these officials should inhibit themselves and instead refer the cases to the Office of the Ombudsman,” she said.

Citing the 1989 Ombudsman Act, De Lima, a former justice secretary, said the charges against her clearly fall within the original jurisdiction of the office. After all, she said, the DOJ still has to submit the results of its preliminary probe to the Obudsman

“This duty to forward the case to the Office of the Ombudsman even acquires pragmatic value, considering that the DOJ Secretary himself committed to still submit to the Office of the Ombudsman the result of the investigation in these cases,” she said.

“All these cases, including the one lodged with the Office of the Ombudsman, anchor their charges on a common allegation that respondent Senator de Lima is involved in the illegal drug trade in the country,” she added in her petition.

Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales earlier said they would conduct a probe into the alleged drug links of De Lima – a move welcomed by the senator. 

De Lima has repeatedly alleged Duterte and his men, particularly Aguirre, of “fabricating” evidence against her. She even said the supposed proof linking her to illegal drugs is “fake” like Aguirre’s wig.

Aguirre, for his part, said the DOJ can file an “airtight” case against the senator, the fiercest critic of the President. – Rappler.com