Aguirre reminds de Lima: You also charged GMA in criminal court, not Ombudsman

Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II ‎can’t understand why Sen. Leila de Lima is complaining why she was being charged for drug trafficking at the Muntinlupa Regional Trial Court instead of the Office the Ombudsman.

‎In a statement, Aguirre said: “On the matter of jurisdiction, it is the RTC that has original and exclusive jurisdiction over the three cases, regardless of the high position of the respondent. Trading in illegal drugs has no connection with the performance of her duties as Secretary of Justice.”

Aguirre said de Lima forgot that she also filed a criminal case against former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo in a regular court instead of the Ombudsman which was the reasone why she spent most of the Aquino administration in hospital detention at the Veterans Memorial Medical Center.

Aguirre said de Lima should stop claiming that her case extraordinary because other former government officials were also charged in regular courts for crimes they comitted while in office.

‎”I recall that Senator de Lima herself and other Secretaries of Justice before her, prosecuted before the RTC several high ranking officials like PGMA, (Commission on Elections Commissioner) Alfredo Benipayo, (former Zamboange del Norte Rep. Romeo) Jalosjos, (former Comelec Chair Benjamin) Abalos, among others,” said Aguirre.

‎Last Friday, the Department of Justice went to the Muntinlupa RTC to charge de Lima for violation of Republic Act 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002 over her alleged involvement in the Bilibid drug trade during her watch as then Justice Secretary from 2010 to 2015.

De Lima claimed that the Ombudsman has jurisdiction over he cases and that she believed that Aguirre had railroaded the cases against her to silence her on her incessant attacks on the government’s extra judicial killings.

http://politics.com.ph/aguirre-reminds-de-lima-also-charged-gma-criminal-court-not-ombudsman/