Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, November 26) — Former senator Leila de Lima is counting on the Ombudsman to investigate former Justice chiefs Vitaliano Aguirre II and Menardo Guevarra after the Court of Appeals reversed its decision dismissing her complaint against the two in relation to her drug cases.
“With the reversal of the Ombudsman dismissal by the CA, I expect the Ombudsman to now conduct a full investigation of both Aguirre and Guevarra or, at the very least, to require Guevarra to answer the administrative aspect of the case and defend his role in propping up criminal convicts as state witnesses even if they are disqualified from being granted immunity under the law,” she said in a statement on Sunday.
This came after the Court of Appeals granted her petition to challenge the Ombudsman’s 2019 dismissal of her complaints against the former DOJ officials which include graft, gross neglect of duty and grave misconduct.
The court said there was no valid reason to deny the conduct of the probe on administrative charges filed by De Lima, herself a former DOJ secretary, for the alleged illegal admission of 11 convicted felons to the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) witness protection program (WPP).
De Lima had argued that under the law, individuals convicted of any crime involving moral turpitude cannot be admitted to the WPP.
The testimonies of the felons led to the filing of drug-related complaints against the former lawmaker, which resulted in her arrest and eventual detention for over six years.
In 2021, a Muntinlupa court junked one of three drug charges against De Lima. A year later, she was acquitted of a second drug charge
De Lima was released on Nov. 13 after she posted bail for her remaining drug case.
