JUSTICE Secretary Menardo Guevarra has created a “core group” that will go after corrupt government officials during the last two years of President Duterte in Malacañang.
The core group was formed following Guevarra’s meeting with senior officials of the Department of Justice, including Prosecutor-General Benedicto Malcontento and National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Officer-in-Charge Eric Distor to discuss the organization of the task force to investigate allegations of corruption in the entire government.
The DOJ-led task force is composed of the NBI, Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission (PACC), Office of the Special Assistant to the President (OSAP), National Prosecution Service (NPS), and the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC).
The task force will invite the Commission on Audit (COA), the Civil Service Commission (CSC) and the Office of the Ombudsman to assist in the investigation “with due consideration for their independence as constitutional bodies.”
Also tackled at the meeting were methods to be used in securing information on incidences of corruption in government, and possible approaches for investigating allegations of corruption—taking into consideration the gravity of the allegations and its impact on the delivery of government services.
The creation of the task force was in line with Duterte’s memorandum giving the DOJ the authority to decide which allegations of corruption to investigate, taking into consideration the gravity thereof and the impact on the delivery of government services.
The President also gave DOJ the discretion to create as many panels as it deems necessary, and invite or direct government agencies to assist or be part of the panel.
“The President has given the DOJ a free hand in filing cases, but if presidential appointees are to be charged, official courtesy demands that the appointing authority be informed in advance,” Guevarra said.
The task force has also formed a secretariat to accept and evaluate complaints about corruption, and recommend to the task force the complaints to be prioritized.
Among the agencies to be prioritized in task force investigations are the Department of Public Works and Highways, Bureau of Customs (BoC), the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), Bureau of Immigration (BI) and the Land Registration Authority, which is under the DOJ.
Senate reminder
Senate leaders on Wednesday backed Duterte’s initiative in ordering DOJ to dig deeper into alleged anomalies.
Senate President Vicente Sotto III confirmed the emerging consensus among senators to give full support to the Palace directive.
Sotto noted the Palace order will be a “big help” to the Office of the Ombudsman, adding that “the more investigators looking into anomalies, the better.”
Sotto sees no need for Congress to provide DOJ an additional budget to carry out the new task to back up the Ombudsman in going after grafters.
For his part, Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon, a former Secretary of Justice, reminded that “no one is above the law,” adding this should be taken to mean the task force can investigate all those in government, including lawmakers.
Drilon pointed out, however, that the DOJ cannot directly file graft cases before the Sandiganbayan, citing the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act which provides that these need to be approved by the Office of the Ombudsman.
DOLE task force
The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) created its own task force to weed out graft and corruption within its ranks.
In a online press briefing on Wednesday, Labor Undersecretary Benjo Benavidez disclosed Labor and Employment Secretary Silvestre H. Bello III made the decision in compliance to President Rodrigo R. Duterte commitment to intensify the government’s anti-corruption drive in his remaining two years in office.
The task force will be led by two labor undersecretaries and will include lawyers from DOLE and its attached agencies.
Benavidez said the task force will “actively” conduct agency-wide internal investigation and not rely on complaints against suspected erring labor officials and personnel.
“If the task force evaluates there is basis to file cases [against a labor official or personnel], the task force will have the power to endorse it to DOJ (Department of Justice) so it could file the necessary cases either in the Ombudsman or Civil Service Commission,” Benavidez said.
The labor official stressed that the task force will not replace the function of the DOLE’s administrative complaints committee (ACC).
The job of the task force will be to conduct high level [investigation] on graft and corruption because the existing committees [ACC] handle others including issues on competency, integrity, absenteeism, and misconduct [of labor officials and personnel],” Benavidez said.
Last Monday, Duterte assigned DOJ to lead the “mega task force” to probe graft and corruption in the government.
“The decision of the Secretary is to help DOJ with its task,” Benavidez said.
He said the task force will also look into red tape within DOLE, which he said, is a major reason for graft and corruption practices.
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