Solicitor General Menardo Guevarra on Monday said his handling of the drug cases against former Senator Leila de Lima, who was freed on bail this month, during his term as Justice Secretary was only in accordance with the law.
“I understand that the CA (Court of Appeals) merely remanded the case to the Office of the Ombudsman. So, let’s wait for what the Office of the Ombudsman will do,” Guevarra told reporters in a text message.
“In any event, I am ready to submit my comment of required. As Justice Secretary (in the Duterte administration), all my acts had always been in accordance with the law,” he added.
De Lima had called on the Ombudsman to start its investigation to determine if Guevarra and former Department of Justice chief Vitaliano Aguirre II had administrative liability over the use of convicted felons to testify against her in the illegal drug cases.
De Lima’s call came after the Court of Appeals recently reversed and set aside the Ombudsman’s decision dismissing her complaint against Guevarra and Aguirre in relation to the government use of convicts to testify in her drug cases.
De Lima, who was also Justice Secretary in the Aquino III administration, said her two predecessors violated Section 10 of Republic Act 6981 or the Witness Protection, Security and Benefit Act when they used felons to witness against her.
According to the ex-senator, under RA 6981, individuals convicted of any crime involving moral turpitude cannot be admitted to the government’s Witness Protection Program (WPP) and be made as prosecution’s witnesses.
Guevarra served as DOJ chief from 2018 to 2022 under then-President Rodrigo Duterte.
Aguirre, who was Justice chief in the first half of Duterte’s term, said he would just wait for the Ombudsman’s action on the CA ruling.
“I have not been furnished a copy of her 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 on the said complaint,” Aguirre, now an official of the National Police Commission, said.