Drilon: 'Incredible' Aguirre not consulted in downgrading of raps vs. cops in Espinosa slay

Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon on Wednesday said he does not believe Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II was not in on the downgrading of charges against policemen involved in the killing of Albuera, Mayor mayor Rolando Espinosa inside his jail cell last year.

“It is not credible that you tell us that you did not consult your Secretary (Aguirre) when your Secretary expressed a different opinion. You are saying malakas ang loob mo hindi mo man lang tinatanong ang kalihim,” Drilon told Justice Undersecretary Reynante Orceo during the Senate's hearing on the issue.

“You are not credible because what you are stating is contrary to human experience and the way we conduct things in the bureaucracy.  Wala namang maniniwala na ire-reverse ang decision ng Senado, NBI, DOJ panel at sasabihin na hindi niya kinonsulta ang Secretary," he added.

Orceo insisted during the hearing that Aguirre had nothing to do with his decision and was in fact unaware of it.

“The secretary had no hand in the drafting [of the resolution]. I have my own opinion based on the record,” he said.

Drilon reiterated that it was "incredible” that Orceo decided to downgrade the case when he could have just let the court do it.

“All of these are absolutely incredible especially considering that you could have left the matter to the discretion of the court. Now that they are charged with homicide they cannot be convicted of murder,” he said.

“You find it urgent, necessary for you to exercise that judgment and downgrade the case to homicide,” the senator added.

Senator Panfilo Lacson also questioned the authority of Orceo in issuing the decision, citing Department Circular 19 that states the Justice Secretary delegates his power to review cases to his undersecretaries from July 1, 2016 to December 31, 2016.

“Wouldn’t that render the decision illegal or invalid on the basis of the circular?," he asked. (The DOJ decided to indict Marcos et al. for homicide instead of murder on May 29, 2017)

Orceo said he believes undersecretaries are still authorized to conduct a review of  the case. —ALG/KVD, GMA News