Duterte urged to probe 'midnight resolutions' in DOJ

An anti-corruption group on Wednesday called on President-elect Rodrigo Duterte to look into accusations that Acting Justice Secretary Emmanuel Caparas and other ranking Department of Justice officials were behind so-called "midnight resolutions."

In a press conference, the Filipino Alliance for Transparency and Empowerment (FATE) claimed it has received reports that Caparas was "meddling" in cases pending with the DOJ by rewriting and reversing resolutions that had already been issued in order to favor certain parties.

"We are calling for the DOJ and incoming President Rodrigo Duterte na tutukan ang mga issue ng 'resolutions for sale' at 'midnight resolutions.' Gusto lang namin na silipin lahat ng transparency sa mga kaso sa DOJ," FATE spokesperson Jo Perez told GMA News Online.

Perez said based on information gathered by their team, Caparas had instructed DOJ undersecretaries and prosecutors to stop issuing decisions by June 3 and go on forced leaves so he could rewrite them himself.

She alleged that the rewritten rulings were being "antedated" and being sold for "millions of pesos," which she termed as "padulas" or "grease money."

"Amusing" accusation

Caparas, who is about to vacate his post when President Benigno Aquino III steps down from office on June 30, quickly dismissed the accusation, calling it "amusing."

"What they claim is all untrue. No 'meddling' and 'midnight reversals' (whatever that means) and no instruction from me or my office to anyone in DOJ to take 'forced leaves,'" Caparas told GMA News Online in a text message.

The Justice secretary added: "I can only wonder who is or are behind FATE."

Caparas said "personal interest" could be the motive behind such accusations.

Money-related?

According to Perez, they learned that Caparas had been "scrambling" to rewrite decisions just weeks before Duterte is set to ascend to the highest post in the land.

Perez said their group "cannot divulge at this time" where and how they got the information about the alleged "midnight reversals," as she urged the government to conduct further investigation on the controversy.

She said rulings on both high-profile and regular cases were affected by the alleged "midnight reversals."

More than politics, Perez suspected that the midnight resolutions could be "much more money-related." "Kung kailan siya bababa sa posisyon, ito ang time na nangyayari ang resolution for sale. Baka iniisip nila dito makalusot ang kaso," she said.