Press Release
February 11, 2009

ROXAS BILL CREATES SPECIAL PROBER FOR PRESIDENT, SPOUSE

Liberal President Senator Mar Roxas has filed a bill that will lay down the mechanisms for the hiring of a special and independent prosecutor to investigate and prosecute impeachable public officials and their relatives.

Stressing the importance of ensuring that all Filipinos are treated equally as mandated by the Constitution, Roxas said Senate Bill No. 3044 will guarantee that the practice of undue patronage does not influence the application of justice in the country.

"Mahalagang mahirap man o mayaman, opisyal man ng gobyerno o simpleng mamamayan man ay pantay-pantay ang batas para sa lahat. Kaya nga nakapiring ang mata ni Lady Justice dahil pantay-pantay ang hustisya (It is important that rich or poor, public officials or ordinary workers are all treated equally under the law. That is why Lady Justice is blind-folded, so that each will get justice)," he said.

SB No. 3044, or the proposed Special and Independent Prosecutor Act of 2009, recommends the appointment of a Special and Independent Prosecutor to investigate and prosecute all criminal charges filed against impeachable officials and their relatives in instances where the Department of Justice or the Office of the Ombudsman cannot investigate and prosecute the cases.

Officials who may have committed crimes punishable by at least 6 years in jail and whom the Special and Independent Prosecutor can investigate and prosecute includes the president and the vice president, Supreme Court justices, and members of constitutional commissions for at least 1 year and their relatives up to the 6th degree of consanguinity and affinity.

Any person can file an application for the appointment of a Special and Independent Prosecutor with the Supreme Court (SC) when either the DoJ or the Ombudsman fails to act on cases filed against any of the covered officials within 15 days from the date of filing of the cases or if such investigation and prosecution may result in a personal, financial or political conflict of interest with any of the DoJ or Office of the Ombudsman officials.

The SC, upon determination of basis for the appointment of such prosecutor, shall then submit a list of 5 nominees to Congress within 30 days, the names of which shall be ranked according to preference. Congress has 15 days to choose from the list, failure of which would automatically make the first name in the list the designated Special and Independent Prosecutor, who will have a fixed 5-year term.

A Special and Independent Prosecutor should be a citizen of the Philippines, a member of the Philippine Bar, engaged in the practice of law for at least 5 years, at least 35 years old and of proven competence, probity, integrity and is not occupying any position in government.

The Office of the Special and Independent Prosecutor shall be given an annual budget of P1 billion and will have investigative and prosecutorial powers of the DoJ and the Ombudsman. He will enjoy immunity of suit from cases arising from his performance within 2 years from his end of term.

"The intent of this measure is to restore public confidence in an impartial administration of justice by ensuring that officials of the government, particularly impeachable officials and their relatives, could not interfere with any on-going investigation or prosecution of a prominent government officials or his/her relative. The appointment of an Independent Special Prosecutor will ensure that investigations will be free from the influence of political and personal considerations," Roxas said.

The Ilonggo senator had earlier said President Arroyo can appoint a Special Prosecutor to investigate all the irregularities to which her husband, First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo, has been linked to.

Mr. Arroyo's name has again been dragged into the recent World Bank corruption report, where witnesses told WB investigators they paid millions of pesos to the presidential spouse and his cohorts to corner contracts for government infrastructure projects.

News Latest News Feed