Review of Espinosa, Napoles cases new DOJ chief’s ‘top priority’

Newly-appointed Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra on Monday said the review of the Department of Justice's actions on the cases of self-confessed drug distributor Kerwin Espinosa and alleged pork barrel scam mastermind Janet Lim Napoles is his "top priority."

Guevarra said his prioritization of those high-profile cases is imbued with public interest.

"For now, I can only say that I will review previous actions on the Espinosa and Napoles cases. That's top priority in view of the public interest involved," he said in a message to reporters.

"I will not prejudge until I've formed my own conclusion... I don't want to make premature statements on pending cases till I have a good grasp of the issues," he added.

Guevarra is taking the place of Vitaliano Aguirre II, who stepped down less than a month after news broke out that DOJ prosecutors had dismissed the drug charges against several drug personalities, including Espinosa and convicted drug lord Peter Co.

Before he resigned, Aguirre replaced the prosecutors and tasked them to conduct further preliminary investigation of the case, which is first scheduled for April 12.

Aguirre also faced resignation calls after it was revealed that Napoles had been provisionally placed under the DOJ's Witness Protection Program.

He ignored calls for his resignation until rumors swirled that he was about to be fired by President Rodrigo Duterte. On April 5, Duterte announced he had accepted his fraternity brother's resignation.

The President named Guevarra, former senior executive deputy secretary, the new DOJ secretary on the same day.

Guevarra has said he will report to work at the DOJ this week. He said organizing his team is also one of his priorities. —KBK, GMA News