MANILA, Philippines — Taking a cue from a fact-finding panel that she had formed, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo ordered Friday the filing of administrative charges against key state prosecutors for the purported mishandling of the case involving the “Alabang Boys.”

The President also set aside the prosecutors’ resolution dropping the drug case against Richard Brodett, Jorge Joseph and Joseph Tecson — all residents of the exclusive Ayala Alabang Village in Muntinlupa City — and ordered the Department of Justice (DoJ) to charge them in court.

She likewise ordered the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) to conduct within 30 days an administrative investigation of its agents who allegedly manhandled Brodett during buy-bust operations.

Secretary Serge Remonde did not make public the report of the committee, saying it was privileged communication between the committee and the President.

Remonde announced Ms Arroyo’s order to the Presidential Anti-Graft Commission (PAGC) to file an administrative case against Chief State Prosecutor Jovencito Zuño and State Prosecutor Philip Kimpo for negligence.

Remonde said the negligence had to do with the prosecutors’ “cursory conduct of review” of the resolution drafted by Prosecutor John Resado and dated Dec. 2, 2008.

Ms Arroyo also directed the PAGC to file administrative charges against Resado for bribery, according to Remonde.

Brodett, Joseph and Tecson were arrested by PDEA agents for alleged drug possession and peddling in buy-bust operations on Sept. 20, 2008.

In December, the prosecutors issued a resolution dismissing the charges against them.

Kimpo went over the resolution on automatic review, and Zuño approved it.

PDEA agents triggered a controversy when they hinted that the prosecutors had been bribed millions of pesos by the family of one of the Alabang Boys into dropping the case.

At the height of the bribery scandal, Ms Arroyo designated herself “anti-drugs czar” to synchronize the government’s campaign against illegal drugs.

Fact-finding report

Remonde said Ms Arroyo issued her orders after reviewing the March 12 report of the fact-finding committee that she had formed to look into the case.

The committee, composed of retired Supreme Court Justice Carolina Griño-Aquino, retired justice Raoul Victorino of the anti-graft court Sandiganbayan and Rev. Fr. Ranhilio Aquino, heard the testimony of 37 persons in 10 days.

“There’s no timetable for the investigation, but the PAGC understands the urgency of these cases. We expect the PAGC to do the investigation without disregard to due process,” Remonde said.

Pressure

Ms Arroyo also directed the PAGC to further investigate Justice Undersecretary Ricardo Blancaflor for possible violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.

Blancaflor had admitted calling Maj. Ferdinand Marcelino, chief of the PDEA Special Enforcement Service, on Dec. 19, 2008, to ask why the agency had not released the Alabang Boys following the dismissal of the case.

Blancaflor said he made the call on the request of Brodett’s uncle Philip.

Marcelino had said he considered the call “a form of pressure.”

But Ms Arroyo directed the PDEA to conduct an administrative investigation of Marcelino “for taking unto himself the job of prosecutor” by releasing one Patrick El Khoury, who drove the car where a drug sale was consummated.

She likewise ordered the PDEA to justify why its agents had failed to strictly follow the rule on the marking, inventory and photographing of drugs, and to complete its manual of operations on drug-related arrests.

Ms Arroyo also issued a separate decision reversing the prosecutors’ dismissal of the case against the Alabang Boys, according to Remonde.

Partial victory

“Consequently, the secretary of justice is ordered to immediately file the necessary criminal information against the respondents in the appropriate court,” he said.

Asked to comment, the PDEA said Ms Arroyo’s order to file charges against the prosecutors could indicate her intent to reverse the questioned dismissal of the case against the Alabang Boys.

“If the President finds probable cause that they should be charged because of alleged bribery, we can only deduce that it means that the dismissal (of the drug charges) should be reversed,” PDEA spokesperson Derrick Carreon said.

“Logically, it is her intent that the case should be filed,” he said.

Quoting the response of PDEA Director General Dionisio Santiago, Carreon said the PDEA considered the Palace order “a partial victory” and vowed to improve the systems and procedures employed during anti-drugs operations.

Both Congress and the independent panels that looked into the September 2008 operations had found “operational lapses” in the arrest of Brodett, Tecson and Joseph.

Carreon said the PDEA was “sure” that Marcelino would be “given due process and a chance to answer the charges.”

“We will have him assisted by counsel,” Carreon said.

Gonzalez also approved

Reacting to Ms Arroyo’s instruction that he and Kimpo be charged in court, Zuño said Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez himself had adopted the resolution dismissing the drug case against the Alabang Boys.

“My only reaction is that the resolution we approved was also approved and adopted by Secretary Gonzalez. That’s all,” Zuño said when reached on the phone.
Kimpo, for his part, said he did not agree with the fact-finding panel’s conclusion that he was negligent in reviewing the resolution.

“We will face the charge against us. But we feel that the charge is unmeritorious,” Kimpo said.
Repeated calls by the Inquirer to Resado and Blancaflor went unanswered.

NBI lapses

According to Muntinlupa City Rep. Rufino Biazon, the President’s orders only served to show that the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) had not exerted enough effort to probe the issue.

The NBI had cleared justice officials and prosecutors of bribery.

“One question now is how to deal with the NBI, which apparently did not ask enough or the right questions when it did its own investigation,” said Biazon, a member of the House panel that also looked into the drug case.

“I also think that the information we gathered, together with that of the fact-finding committee, supported the President’s decision. If it weren’t for our inquiry, this would have been swept under the rug and forgotten,” he said. With reports from Tarra Quismundo, Norman Bordadora and Leila B. Salaverria