MANILA, Philippines – State prosecutors slammed on Monday, April 2, the recommendation of the Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission (PACC) to suspend the prosecutors who signed the resolution that dismissed drug trade charges against suspects Kerwin Espinosa and Peter Lim.

“Sadly, we find this conduct to be reckless and malicious,” said Jolly Claro-Mendoza of the State Prosecutors and Prosecution Attorneys Association Inc (SPPAAI) during the flag ceremony of the Department of Justice (DOJ) on Monday morning.

The PACC, led by chairman Dante Jimenez, recommended to President Rodrigo Duterte the preventive suspension of former Acting Prosecutor General Jorge Catalan, Senior Deputy State Prosecutor Rassendell Gingoyon, and Assistant State Prosecutor Michael Humarang. 

The PACC recommended a lifestyle check on panel head Aristotle Reyes, who was recently promoted Judge of Lucena, Quezon.

Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II has scrapped the panel’s decision, and has ordered a fresh investigation following a backlash not just from the public but also from the President. 

The state prosecutors defended the decision of their colleagues, saying: “As prosecutors, we are bound to decide each case based on the evidence presented before us. We can neither take popular opinion nor public outcry as ground for filing a case or dismissing a complaint.”

Aguirre had also earlier ordered the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to probe the prosecution panel, a move that Reyes described as “saddening”. 

In its statement, the SPPAAI stood by Aguirre.

“Lastly, we thank our good Secretary of Justice Vitaliano N. Aguirre for his unending support to the State Prosecutors and Prosecuting Attorneys Association, Inc. and the National Prosecution Service, as a whole, in ensuring an efficient and equitable administration of justice,” the SPPAAI said. – Rappler.com