Gordon wants Aquirre’s powers clipped

Senator Richard Gordon.  EDWIN BACASMAS

Sen. Richard Gordon is studying the possibility enacting a law that would cut the powers of the justice secretary after the Department of Justice (DOJ) downgraded charges against policemen accused in the killing of detained Albuera Mayor Rolando Espinosa Sr.

Gordon said one possibility is to strip the justice secretary of the power to review serious cases and transfer it to another authority, possibly a retired justice of the Supreme Court.

“The ones to [handle] these cases should be a very senior or maybe a retired justice of the Supreme Court… who will really go through the scrutiny of the Senate,” Gordon said in a radio interview.

I’m still studying whether or not this can be done,” he said.

Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III found Gordon’s proposal interesting, particularly if its goal was to prevent Cabinet members from abusing their authority.

“We are open to anything because what we want is for our secretaries to be upright and competent, especially the justice secretary because his role is very powerful and the start of the justice process starts with him,” said Pimentel in a separate radio interview.

Senators last week sought the reopening of the Senate probe after Aguirre approved homicide charges against Supt. Marvin Marcos and his men despite the criminal findings of the Senate and the National Bureau of Investigation.

Gordon said he was open to having the blue ribbon committee revisit Espinosa’s case but he also wants to give Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II a chance to correct the situation himself.

He said Aguirre, who had earlier said the killing of Espinosa was “premeditated,” can do this by reverting to an earlier DOJ decision to file murder cases against Marcos and his men.

“I’m just waiting for a development. I’m waiting for him to have wisdom and the conscience to rectify it. Let’s give him the chance,” he said.

“Because under the rules, the secretary of justice can still amend, modify and review the case that has been filed and applied to the court,” Gordon said.

He said it was for the court, and not for the DOJ, to downgrade charges.

If Aguirre insists on the downgraded charges, Gordon said the reopened Senate probe may focus on the justice secretary’s possible malfeasance.

“Sen. Ping (Lacson) and I already investigated this and we know that there is strong evidence,” Gordon said.

“If we are to reinvestigate, we have to find out if there’s malfeasance on the part of the DOJ. We should not talk about the case per se anymore because we’re done with the investigation,” he said.