Aguirre says Ombudsman resolution  on Aquino on Mamasapano “welcome development”

July 16, 2017

Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II welcomed the resolution of the Office of the Ombudsman finding former President Benigno Aquino III liable criminally for the Mamasapano encounter in January 2015 where 44 police commandos were killed. "It's a welcome development. The factual bases of the resolution are by and large accurate," Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II said in a text message on Sunday. Aguirre was the counsel of  Philippine National Police Special Action Force Director Getulio Napenas Jr during the Senate inquiry chaired by Senator Grace Poe. Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo said in a statement that “while the time of reckoning has come for the former president, he remains entitled to the constitutional presumption of innocence like any other Filipino citizen. “He can marshal all the legal remedies available under the law and deserves to be within the mantle of the protection of due process and the rule of law, a constitutional principle he however deprived many of his political adversaries, like the late Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona and the former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo,” added Panelo. Aquino has five days to seek a motion for reconsideration before the Ombudsman. Former Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Abigail Valte said Aquino had received the resolution on Friday. In its 35-page resolution released Friday, the Ombudsman approved the indictment of the former president before the Sandiganbayan for usurpation of authority under Article 177 of the Revised Penal Code and violation of Section 3 (a) of Republic Act 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act. Aquino was found liable for allowing Purisima, suspended at the time as PNP chief due to a graft case, to play a “major role” in the raid. Purisima and Napeñas were ordered indicted together with Aquino. Aguirre said the findings of the Ombudsman vindicated his former client Napeñas "In fact, that was exactly his (Napeñas') defense -- that the liability was with higher officials and he was only following their orders," he said. DMS