MANILA, Philippines – The Office of the Vice President (OVP) on Thursday asked the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) whether or not it is usually involved in most complaints filed by the police, and if it singled out Vice President Leni Robredo.
OVP spokesperson and lawyer Barry Gutierrez raised the said questions amid reports that the OSG had a hand in the drafting of the sedition complaint documents against Robredo which were eventually submitted by the Philippine National Police (PNP) Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) to the Department of Justice (DOJ).
“Sa isang ordinaryong araw, I suppose they (police) refer dozens of cases, in a year thousands of cases to DOJ. Ang tanong ko dito, ilan sa mga kasong ‘yon ang nakiki-alam ang OSG, para mag-draft?” Gutierrez asked during a press conference.
“Kasi meron namang internal na mga lawyers ang PNP, they are trained to actually prepare these kinds of complaint affidavit. So the question is, why in this particular case, eh parang lumalabas eh sila ang naki-alam, kung totoo nga,” he added.
Previously, an ABS-CBN News report claimed that OSG helped draft the complaint, after analyzing soft copies from lawyer Larry Gadon.
Gadon is the counsel of Peter Joemel Advincula who claims to be “Bikoy” in the “Ang Totoong Narcolist” video series.
On Wednesday, PNP chief General Oscar Albayalde admitted that CIDG consulted OSG in crafting the complaints, although he insisted that the latter did not pen the document.
Albayalde, the OSG, and Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo insisted that there is no irregularity in the incident as OSG’s mandate is to serve as counsel for the government, in this case, a law enforcement agency.
READ: CIDG consulted OSG on sedition case vs Robredo, 35 others – Albayalde
READ: OSG justifies role in PNP-CIDG’s sedition case against Robredo, et al.
READ: Palace: Nothing wrong when PNP ‘consulted’ OSG over Bikoy affidavit
Gutierrez, however, offered a different view of the OSG’s mandates.
“Ganito ang pagkakaintindi ko, OSG regularly represents government agencies in court. Maiintindihan ko kung PNP-CIDG was sued in court, let’s say may nag-file ng kaso na EJK and then umabot sa Supreme Court, I wouldn’t be surprised if OSG represents them because that’s the ordinary mandate,” he explained.
“But this is not a court case, it is a regular investigation that PNP-CIDG at least, according to them, ginagawa nila in the ordinary course of things,” he added. /gsg