All cases to be treated equally — new prosecutor general

Newly appointed Prosecutor General Victor Sepulveda will order an inventory and status update on cases being handled by the National Prosecution Service (NPS).

“I intend to meet with the senior deputy prosecutors to brief me on what is going on especially on pending cases,” Sepulveda told reporters Monday.

Sepulveda was appointed by President Rodrigo Duterte to replace NPS officer in charge Makati Chief Prosecutor Jorge Galvez Catalan Jr., who took over the agency after Prosecutor General Claro Arellano took a leave of absence. Arellano has been appointed head of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) upon the request of Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III.

Sepulveda has been a government prosecutor for 29 years. A fraternity brother of Duterte and Aguirre in Lex Talionis, he is also an old family friend of the Dutertes.

Despite his closeness to the President, Sepulveda gave the assurance that all cases would be treated the same.

“We always decide on the merits because we do not know otherwise,” Sepulveda said.

Currently, there are six cases pending against former Justice Secretary now Senator Leila De Lima before the DOJ. The DOJ panel of prosecutors has already submitted five of the six cases for resolution while one was already filed before the Quezon City Metropolitan Trial Court.

Sepulveda said there was no such thing as “big high profile case.”

“To me, all cases are the same. It will only depend on the evidence,” he said, adding that they would resolve cases on a first come, first serve basis, not on whether it is high profile or not. CBB/rga