Ex-DOJ chief on De Lima’s claim: My actions were lawful

FORMER justice secretary and now Solicitor General Menardo Guevarra yesterday maintained that he acted in accordance with the law when he continued the move of his predecessor at the Department of Justice (DOJ) to use convicts as government witnesses in the drug charges that the Duterte administration filed against former senator Leila de Lima.

Guevarra said he is ready to submit this position to the Office of the Ombudsman once it convenes an investigation into De Lima’s 2018 administrative complaint accusing him and former DOJ chief Vitaliano Aguirre II of gross neglect of duty, grave misconduct, and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service in relation to the presentation of persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) as witnesses in the drug cases.

Ruling that the Ombudsman’s 2019 and 2020 decisions which junked De Lima’s complaints against the two DOJ secretaries were “void for lack of due process,” the CA Special 17th Division remanded the cases to the anti-graft body “for appropriate action.”

“I understand that the CA merely remanded the case to the Office of the Ombudsman. So, let’s wait for what the Office of the Ombudsman will do,” Guevarra, who served as DOJ secretary from 2018 to 2022, said in a Viber message.

He added: “In any event, I am ready to submit my comment of required. As justice secretary, all my acts had always been in accordance with the law.”

Aguirre, for his part, said he will wait for the Ombudsman’s response to the CA ruling before making a comment.

“I have not been furnished a copy of her (De Lima) complaint since its filing. This is the first time I have been informed of such. I will just await the order from the Ombudsman to answer or comment to the said complaint,” Aguirre, who is now one of the commissioners of the National Police Commission, said when sought for comment.

De Lima on Sunday said the two former secretaries of the justice department violated Section 10 of Republic Act 6981, or the Witness Protection, Security and Benefit Act, when they used felons as witnesses against her.

She reiterated that under RA 6981, individuals convicted of any crime involving moral turpitude cannot be admitted to the government’s