Drilon: DOJ official must be prosecuted over downgraded raps vs. Supt. Marcos

Senator Franklin Drilon said Sunday that he will pursue the prosecution of Justice Undersecretary Reynante Orceo for downgrading the murder raps against Superintendent Marvin Marcos and 18 other policemen to homicide.

"Orceo of DOJ, talagang iyon naman ay papasok sa Section 3(e) ng Anti-Graft [and Corrupt Practices] Act," Drilon said in a radio dzBB interview.

The senator said Orceo can face graft charges for "manifest partiality, evident bad faith and inexcusable negligence" in downgrading the charges against Marcos and the other policemen over the killing of Albuera, Leyte mayor Rolando Espinosa and Raul Yap inside their detention cell last November.

Section 3(e) of Republic Act 3019 says government officials and employees can be charged for "causing any undue injury to any party, including the Government, or giving any private party any unwarranted benefits, advantage or preference in the discharge of his official administrative or judicial functions through manifest partiality, evident bad faith or gross inexcusable negligence."

Drilon said he will make sure that the recommended charge against Orceo is included in the committee report that will be released by the two Senate committees that conducted a hearing on the downgrading of charges last week.

The hearing was jointly conducted by the Committee on Public Order and Dangerous Drugs chaired by Senator Panfilo Lacson and Committee on Justice and Human Rights headed by Senator Richard Gordon.

"Talagang isisingit ko ito for prosecution under Section 3(e) of the anti-graft law," Drilon said.

He also urged Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales to order her office's field investigators to conduct an investigation.

"Ito po ay rule of law at hindi puwedeng palampasin ito," Drilon said.

In the interview, the senator said that the downgrading of charges against the policemen was very mysterious.

During the Senate hearing, Drilon said that Orceo's assurance that Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II had nothing to do with the downgrading of charges was "incredible."

Orceo had told the senators that he can issue resolutions without consulting with Aguirre based on Department Circular 19, which delegates the Justice secretary's power to review cases to his undersecretaries. —ALG/BM, GMA News