Drilon asks NBI to file disbarment case vs legal assistance chief involved in 'pastillas' bribery scheme

Senate Minority Leader Franklin M. Drilon urged the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to immediately file a disbarment case against Atty. Joshua Capiral, the agency's head of legal assistance division who was arrested in an entrapment operation for allegedly accepting bribes from individuals involved in the 'pastillas scheme'.

"Bantay salakay ang tawag dito. Yung inatasan na mag-imbestiga sa katiwalian sila yung gumagawa ng katiwalian," said Drilon in an interview with Teleradyo on Wednesday.

"This is one of the reasons why Filipinos are losing faith in the ability of the government to fight corruption," he lamented. "This only shows how rampant corruption is today."

Drilon said aside from filing criminal and administrative charges, the NBI should file a disbarment case against Capiral.

"He is a disgrace to the legal profession. We lawyers took an oath to tell nothing but the truth. Capiral violated that sacred oath of lawyers. All he did in the NBI is to enrich himself through corruption," he added.

Asked whether the case of Capiral warrants a Senate investigation, Drilon responded that he will support an investigation if there is evidence of massive corruption in NBI - like in the case of PhilHealth and the Bureau of Immigration.

"At this point I think there is no evidence of massive corruption in the NBI. This is a laudable move for the NBI to arrest one of its members. The NBI should make an example out of Capiral that corruption has no place in the agency," Drilon said.

"If we do not address this, everybody will believe that they can bribe the NBI and having that perception is not good in the fight against corruption," he added.