DOJ panel wraps up prelim probe sans De Lima counter-affidavit

Senator Leila De Lima has lost the opportunity to refute the complaints filed before the Department of Justice (DOJ) in relation to her alleged involvement in the proliferation of the illegal drug trade inside the New Bilibid Prison.

The five-man panel of prosecutors on Wednesday decided to wrap up the preliminary investigation and submitted the four complaints for resolution.

De Lima skipped the whole process which began on December 2. She was represented by counsel Boni Tacardon, who did not submit a counter-affidavit on her behalf.

"Under the rules, she has 10 days from the receipt of copies of the complaint to file counter-affidavit. If you count it,  kinuha yun (complaints) noong December 2. Ano ngayon? December 21. May 19 days," investigating panel chairperson Senior Assistant State Prosecutor Peter Ong told reporters after the hearing.

Apart from De Lima, the senator's former driver and lover Ronnie Dayan and former Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) Director General Franklin Bucayu failed to submit their respective counter-affidavits.

Some respondents, such as former Justice Undersecretary Francisco Baraan III,
former BuCor officer-in-charge Rafael Ragos, De Lima's former security aide Jonel
Sanchez, and high profile inmate Jaybee Sebastian denied the charges.

Sebastian, however, has yet to personally subscribe to his counter-affidavit.

De Lima earlier asked the DOJ panel to inhibit from hearing the complaints and endorse these to the Office of the Ombudsman, which holds jurisdiction over cases involving government officials and employees.

She also questioned the objectivity of Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II and the five-man panel of prosecutors handling the complaints.

No timeline has been set for the panel to come up with the resolution, which will also contain the prosecutors' response to De Lima's plea to inhibit, according to Ong.

The complaints were filed by high profile inmate Jaybee Sebastian, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC), and former NBI deputy directors Ruel Lasala and Reynaldo Esmeralda.

Sebastian is a co-respondent in the complaints filed by the VACC and NBI. —KBK, GMA News