Justice Secretary Leila de Lima
Justice Secretary Leila de Lima has assigned four state prosecutors to help the Commission on Elections (Comelec) handle the electoral sabotage case it filed against former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and other personalities in connection with alleged cheating in the 2007 midterm elections.
De Lima said the designation of the government prosecutors was prompted by a resolution which the Comelec en banc issued on Jan. 18 that authorized the Department of Justice (DOJ) to assist the poll body in prosecuting the election case against Arroyo et al.
“(The) DOJ prosecutors are considered deputized by the Comelec and, for purposes of the prosecution of the said electoral sabotage cases, shall be under the direct control and supervision of the Comelec through its prosecution team,” De Lima said in her order.
Tasked to help the Comelec prosecution panel were Assistant State Prosecutor Mari Elvira Herrera, Assistant City Prosecutor Orlando Mariano, and Associate Prosecution Attorneys Gerard Gaerlan and Mark Roland Estepa.
The DOJ prosecutors will be under the direct control and supervision of the Comelec. The poll body named Commissioner Christian Robert Lim as the supervising head of the prosecution team.
In its resolution, the Comelec cited a Supreme Court ruling which allowed the election body to seek assistance from other government agencies in prosecuting election-related offenses under the Omnibus Election Code.
It said the high court took note of the important role of DOJ prosecutors in ensuring the “prompt and fair investigation and prosecution of election offenses.”
On Nov. 18, 2011, the Comelec charged Arroyo, former Comelec chair Benjamin Abalos, former Maguindanao Gov. Andal Ampatuan Sr., former election supervisor Lintang Bedol and two others with allegedly conspiring to alter the results of the 2007 senatorial elections in parts of Mindanao.
Arroyo purportedly ordered the rigging of the election results to favor the administration-backed Team Unity, a charge she has denied. Marlon Ramos and Jerome Aning