Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra (TOTO LOZANO/PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO)
He won’t jump the gun on pending cases.
Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra on Monday vowed to be more circumspect in commenting on criminal investigations being handled by Department of Justice (DOJ) prosecutors, including those involving President Rodrigo Duterte’s critics.
Unlike his predecessor, Vitaliano Aguirre II, the newly appointed justice secretary said he would closely study any legal issue first before making public his personal views.
“I don’t want to make premature statements on pending cases until I have a good grasp of the issues,” Guevarra said in a text message.
‘Unlike my predecessors’
“Very much unlike my predecessors, I’d like to be the last person to speak about cases under investigation,” he added.
Aguirre, who was criticized for his penchant for giving the media his own opinion on pending DOJ investigations, stepped down last week, hounded by a string of controversies, including the grant of provisional state protection to alleged pork barrel scam brains Janet Lim-Napoles.
“Prudence is my guiding principle and the rule of law is my one and only compass. As an individual with a quiet family, I have neither political ambitions nor any agenda to dispense justice,” Guevarra said.
The justice secretary said he had already formed his own “small legal team” to help him and other justice officials in looking into the recent decisions handed down by the DOJ.
Top-priority review
He said he would give “top priority” to the review of Napoles’ application to become a state witness and the dismissal of the drug charges against Cebu businessman Peter Lim, confessed drug lord Kerwin Espinosa and several other alleged drug traders.
“I will reserve any judgment, though, until I have thoroughly studied the matter … I will not prejudge until I’ve formed my own conclusion,” he maintained.