Activists Tamano, Castro question DOJ impartiality in perjury probe

The camp of environmental activists Jhed Tamano and Jolina Castro on Tuesday questioned the impartiality of the Department of Justice (DOJ) in the preliminary investigation of the perjury complaint against them, alleging that Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla had prejudged the case.

Tamano and Castro, accompanied by their legal counsel Atty. Dino De Leon, filed a counter-affidavit ad cautelam at the DOJ.

“For us, the reason why joint counter-affidavit ad cautelam iyon kasi kami ay kwine-kwestyon din ang impartiality ng DOJ. Under the direct control of no less than the Secretary of Justice ang National Prosecution Service (NPS),” De Leon said in an ambush interview.

(The reason why we filed a joint counter-affidavit ad cautelam is because we are questioning the impartiality of the DOJ. The NPS is under the direct control of no less than the Secretary of Justice.)

“So, kung impartial investigation iyon, kami ay nanalig. Pero we would like to put on record na right from the very start we question yung impartiality ng preliminary investigation,” he added.

(So, if the investigation is impartial, we will trust them, but we would like to put on record that right from the very start, we are questioning the impartiality of the preliminary investigation.)

According to the lawyer, Remulla made remarks about the case the same day Tamano and Castro said in a press conference that they were abducted, contradicting an earlier claim made by the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict that they surrendered to the military.

The Secretary had said that he believed Tamano and Castro’s retractions were brought about by “peer pressure.” He later doubled down on his claim, arguing he was speaking from experience.

GMA News Online sought comment from the DOJ, but the department had yet to respond as of posting time.

Meanwhile, De Leon said their camp considered the perjury complaint “the greatest harassment of all.”

“At imbis na tulungan ‘yung dalawang inosenteng tao na pinaglalaban lamang ang kanilang convictions at ang environment at pinaglalaban lamang ‘yung hindi dapat magkaroon ng reclamation sa Manila Bay, ang nangyari pa, pagkatapos sila i-abduct… sila pa ‘yung kinasuhan,” he said.

(Instead of helping these two innocent people who are only fighting for their convictions and environment and who are fighting against the reclamation of Manila Bay, what happened is that after they were abducted, they were the ones charged.)

“Pero ‘yung mga abductors na sinasabi nila, walang any kind of investigation. Wala kahit na anong mention of any investigation doon sa abduction,” he added.

(But there was no investigation on their abductors. No mention at all of any investigation on the abduction.)

De Leon said that his clients had insisted in their counter-affidavit that they had been abducted.

According to Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro, the military filed the complaint because they wanted to teach a lesson that such a case cannot be joked about or dramatized.

Meanwhile, according to De Leon, they would file the necessary cases in due time. — DVM, GMA Integrated News