Newly-appointed senator and former justice secretary Leila de Lima claims the cases filed against the preceding administration of Benigno Aquino III could be politically motivated or sheer harassment.
Aquino has been accused of criminal wrongdoing in the controversial Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP) and in the botched Mamasapano operation that resulted in the massacre of 44 members of the Philippine National Police-Special Action Force (SAF 44) in January 2015.
De Lima was saddened by the filing of cases against Aquino, who just recently finished his term.
"It would’ve been okay if there was any basis or if the motives were legitimate," De Lima said.
The justice secretary who served for the Aquino administration is also disappointed over the idea that the families of the slain SAF members are being used for the political agenda of the people behind the criminal complaints against Aquino.
De Lima sees these charges as baseless, even stating that former president Aquino explained on several occassions that he was not fully informed about the actual situation on the ground when the clash between the SAF and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front was taking place.
"If the real situation on the ground was given then, the president would have given the proper orders. But it was not," she added.
She also pointed out that they might be barking at the wrong tree and suggested that the charges should be filed against those who killed the 44 SAF based on her preliminary investigation findings prior to her exit as the justice secretary.
"I was hoping that at this time the results of the preliminary investigation would’ve already been out and the people who should be charged were already charged. I’m not sure why there is a delay in the filing of cases," she added.
De Lima also defended the implementation of DAP, saying that former budget secretary Florencio Abad used the program in good faith.
She said the DAP was clearly meant to help boost the economy by speeding up the use of public funds for priority projects, using the savings in the national budget.
"The Supreme Court has clarified that good faith is presumed. I can assure you that when the program was envisioned, the administration was in good faith, the president was in good faith, secretary Abad was in good faith," De Lima said.
"No evidence has been presented showing that the in the course of the implementation of the program, that someone made money from this," she added.
De Lima guarantees that Aquino and his allies would be able to fend off these accusations with valid reasons.
Source: Philstar
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