Senator Franklin Drilon. FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines — Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon appealed on Wednesday to Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea to act on the pending appointment of over 600 public prosecutors, which have been causing delays to cases.
Drilon said there are lawyers being recommended to Malacañang because the Department of Justice (DOJ) secretary is not authorized to appoint prosecutors.
“There are hundreds of lawyers being recommended by the Secretary of Justice to Malacañang for appointment to the National Prosecutors Service. Unfortunately, under our present system, the Secretary of Justice is not authorized to appoint prosecutors, even the new entrants. They are presidential appointees,” Drilon said in an interview at the Senate.
“As a result, over 600 of these appointmens are pending signature by the President. Kami po ay nakikiusap sa ating butihing Executive Secretary na sana po ay ma-appoint na itong halos 700 prosecutors na nandiyan sa Malacanang. Kapag hindi na-appoint, nade-delay yung mga kaso,” he added.
(We are appealing to our Executive Secretary that these almost 700 prosecutors awaiting in Malacañang be appointed. If they are not appointed, cases are delayed.)
Drilon noted 37 percent of authorized positions are vacant with some have been pending from two to three years back.
“Ang laki po ng vacancy – 37 percent of the authorized positions are vacant, or 1,352 out of 3,620 positions. Out of the 1,352 vacancies, 622 positions are pending signature. Some of these, according to the justice secretary, went back up to two to three years,” Drilon said.
Drilon earlier brought up the issue during his interpellations at the plenary of DOJ’s proposed 2020 budget and described the vacancies as “alarming.”
“What do we intend to do to hasten the appointment of these vacancies? This is alarming. We all complain about delay in the administration justice and usually, this refers to criminal cases,” Drilon said.
“And let me put on record that it is especially unfair if it involves the indigence because they, in the meantime that they cannot, they have no resources to post bail, they are detained and the cases remain pending because there is no prosecutor,” he added.
Senator Sonny Angara, who sponsors DOJ’s budget, assured the agency will also follow up Drilon’s appeal to Malacañang.