Morales ‘knows whereof she speaks’

Allow me to comment on the front-page report “Surprise for Pinoys: Case over in less than one year” which appeared in the Sept. 20 issue of the Inquirer. It read: “Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales on Thursday said it would take ‘much less’ than a year, not one year as she earlier surmised, to resolve whether to dismiss the plunder and malversation charges filed against 38 people, including lawmakers, or proceed with a preliminary investigation.”

To the untrained mind, the report seems to convey the idea that Ombudsman Morales will decide in less than one year whether to dismiss the cases outright or to conduct a preliminary investigation. That was inaccurate. Morales could not have meant that. Whether or not a case is dismissible outright (for patent lack of merit) involves a much shorter time to determine without requiring the persons charged to answer. (In most instances, the investigator/prosecutor peremptorily bypasses that stage and perfunctorily segues to conduct a preliminary investigation. It is then that the “persons of interest” will be subpoenaed to answer the charges. Depending on the skills and resourcefulness of the defense lawyers in snookering the charges from ripening into formal indictments, that process could take years!)

What the Ombudsman evidently meant was, her office has commenced the preliminary investigation and it is her bold estimation that such process may in fact take “much less” than a year. She was obviously reacting to House Minority Leader Ronaldo Zamora’s comment that one year is too long for the Ombudsman to conduct a preliminary investigation and then decide whether to dismiss the case (for lack of probable cause) or to file formal indictments with the Sandiganbayan (which can then issue warrants of arrest without bail).

Morales, a retired Supreme Court justice, is quite familiar with the chicaneries of defense lawyers who aim to derail and delay the proceedings. She should know whereof she speaks.

—STEPHEN L. MONSANTO,

Monsanto Law Office,

Loyola Heights, Quezon City,

[email protected]