In relation to the column of Butch Del Castillo of July 7 in this paper, “Devanadera: ‘Degonzalezing’ the DOJ?” I take this opportunity to set the records straight in connection with the Legacy Group cases.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) under my watch filed eight cases in Cagayan de Oro City but these were later rejected by the court for the non-payment of the required filing or docket fees equivalent to 10 percent of the amount claimed, as contained in DOJ Circular No. 43. In the Legacy cases, the fees amounted to millions of pesos, and considering the hardships that the claimants have already undergone after being duped of their hard-earned cash (with which they had hoped to ensure the college education and the future or their children), I sympathized with their plight and sought ways to waive these prerequisite fees in order to hasten the progress of their cases.

I discussed this matter with Chief Justice Reynato Puno during one of our Judicial and Bar Council meetings and he promised to look into the matter. Sen. Mar Roxas later complained of the lack of apparent progress in the filing of cases against the Legacy Group so I informed him of the filing-fees problem. The senator also promised to look into the matter, in the same way that Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile promised to do the same after I informed him of the matter. I later mentioned this problem to the President during a Cabinet meeting held in Iligan City and the President suggested that I look for a case involving a lesser amount for which she would underwrite the filing fees. This case would serve to jumpstart the filing of other cases while we negotiated for the waiving of the filing fees. I believed then as now that the filing fees in the Legacy cases be waived in the interest of justice. The matter, however, was overtaken by my transfer to another office.

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Americans reacted to the death of the “King of Pop,” together with many people from around the world, by seemingly elevating the pop icon Michael Jackson to the status of sainthood. The outpouring of sorrow all over the world by the media and the Jackson fans, many of whom may never even have had the chance to shake his hands, is fantastic. Not even the universal grief over the assassination of President John F. Kennedy could match it.

Sometimes one wonders why we make some celebrities bigger than life, even in the face of revelations about the way they lived, their lifestyles and idiosyncrasies. I don’t mean to demean the life and lifestyle of MJ and I also wish him eternal life. But I am aware, like many people, of this pop idol’s history of legal entanglements due to his number of sexual indiscretions and even drug abuse, and many other violations of the law. Let us by all mean, pay tribute to Jackson’s musical genius, but we should not try to elevate him to the status of a god to be installed on top of Mt. Olympus.

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Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) Chairman Camilo Sabio justified his many peregrinations all over the world together with his favorite Commissioner Jaime Bautista and his secretary by saying that all his foreign travels were approved by this writer as secretary of justice. Yes, I did approve his travel requests although in almost all these instances, very grudgingly, because of his insistence that his trips were very necessary as part of the many conferences he and Commissioner Bautista have to do abroad in furtherance of their efforts to recover ill-gotten wealth. It must be remembered that while the PCGG was placed under my general supervision when I was secretary of justice, I had no direct control over the agency and its commissioners. But I stand on my position that I have raised objections against these many trips of Sabio and Bautista, and I am willing to testify in any forum regarding my opposition.

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Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had announced that he was willing to agree to a Palestinian state, although he had placed several conditions which may be difficult, especially for the militants among the Palestinians, to accept. But this is quite a good beginning and let us hope, as the world hopes, that peace may yet be attained in this very troubled holy land. Indeed, if Israel was given a slice of the Palestinian lands in 1948 which gave birth to the state of Israel, why should Israel now deny Palestinians their own homeland? If the millions of wandering Jews were given their own homeland, I believe that for the sake of peace and justice, Palestinians should have their own country, too, and let us hope that under that situation they will learn to peacefully co-exist with their neighbors.

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I had been asked in one of my media interviews in Iloilo City if I had a record of how many active-duty military officers are now employed in civilian positions. Of course, I don’t know. But at least I know that the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), employs several active-duty military officers. PDEA is a civilian agency and in fact I raised this subject during the congressional hearings on the so-called Alabang Boys controversy with a certain Marine Major Marcelino, an active-duty military officer holding an important position in the PDEA. Their employment is a clear violation of the Constitution. Under Article 16, Section 5, paragraph 4 of the Constitution, it says: “No member of the Armed Forces in the active military service shall, at any time, be appointed or designated in any capacity to a civilian position in the government, including government-owned and -controlled corporations, or any of their subsidiaries.”

Until now however, Gen. Dionisio Santiago has refused to heed this constitutional prohibition. If General Santiago were a constitutional officer, he could be subject to impeachment for culpable violation of the Constitution.