Sen. Leila de Lima (Photo from her Facebook page)
A 2012 agreement signed by then Justice Secretary Leila de Lima effectively took her illegal drugs case out of the hands of Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales five years later.
Morales explained in an interview on Monday with CNN Philippines—her first in three months—why the Department of Justice (DOJ) decided not to forward the incumbent senator’s cases to her office.
Exclusively triable
She explained that the agreement signed by De Lima calls for DOJ cases “exclusively triable by the Sandiganbayan” to be turned over to the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction for prosecution.
If it does not exclusively fall under the antigraft court’s jurisdiction, she said that whichever office took the case first could handle the case “to the exclusion” of the other.
This was what happened to the illegal drugs cases which were filed at the DOJ by the National Bureau of Investigation, the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption, former NBI deputy directors Reynaldo Esmeralda and Ruel Lasala and New Bilibid Prison inmate Jaybee Sebastian.
DOJ decision
“They (the DOJ) determined that it is not exclusively triable by the Sandiganbayan. They determined that according to the antidrugs act, it is triable by the Regional Trial Court (RTC),” Morales explained.
“And, that’s the reason why they said it should not be forwarded to us,” she said.
Under Republic Act No. 8249, the Sandiganbayan has exclusive jurisdiction over cases of graft, bribery and corruption, as well as “other offenses or felonies… committed in relation to their office” by top public officials with salary grade 27 or higher.
The provision was also an important sticking point: Contrary to the government’s stance, De Lima’s camp maintained the case should have fallen under the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction because her alleged acts were related to her position as justice secretary.
Morales, however, gave a roundabout answer regarding this point.
“If the allegation that the Secretary of Justice was in conspiracy with the inmates, and if on account as Secretary of Justice, she allegedly committed that conspiracy, then that is in relation to her office. Plain and simple,” she said. “But if she did it in a private capacity, that’s it.”