Amid decision to be recused: De Lima urges Guevarra to resign

Former senator Leila De Lima on Tuesday called on Solicitor General Menardo Guevarra to step down following his decision to recuse himself from the petitions linked to the arrest of former president Rodrigo Duterte.

“Instead of recusing himself, the Solicitor General should immediately resign from the BBM administration. His recusal only serves to undermine the position of the government even before the issues have been joined in the certiorari and habeas corpus petitions filed by Duterte, Dela Rosa, and the Duterte siblings,” De Lima said in a video message.

“The primary obligation and duty of a Solicitor General is to defend the government. If he cannot defend the government, not even on the basis of conflict of interest, but on insisting on a personal, legal opinion that is not even crucial to defending the public officials involved, it is time for him to go,” she added. 

De Lima also said that President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos was wrong to appoint Guevarra as the government’s top lawyer “as he now appears to be, in fact, the Duterte sleeper agent out to sabotage the BBM administration.”

The Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) on Monday afternoon filed a manifestation before the Supreme Court seeking to recuse itself from petitions filed by Duterte's children, who are seeking his release and return from The Hague, Netherlands.

In its nine-page motion, the OSG stated it “may not be able to effectively represent Respondents in these cases” due to its firm stance that the International Criminal Court (ICC) has no jurisdiction over the Philippines.

The OSG's manifestation pertains to the consolidated habeas corpus petitions filed by Veronica "Kitty" Duterte, Davao City Mayor Sebastian "Baste" Duterte, and Davao City Representative Paolo "Pulong" Duterte before the Supreme Court.

For De Lima, Guevarra had a “very wrong legal opinion” that contradicts the Supreme Court decision in Pangilinan v. Cayetano, which declared that regardless of the Philippines’ withdrawal from the ICC in 2019, the ICC still retains jurisdiction over crimes committed before the withdrawal.

“This is unprecedented in the history of the OSG, of a Solicitor General putting his entire office and all government solicitors under him in a very prejudicial position that could almost ruin the whole agency, not to mention the entire government,” she said.

Responding to calls for his resignation, Guevarra had said that he would just leave the matter to Marcos.

Malacañang had urged Guevarra to assess himself if he is still capable to serve as the government’s top lawyer after his recusal. 

“[S]iguro mas maganda kung mismo si SolGen ang mag-assess sa sarili niya kung siya pa po ba ay nararapat na tumayo bilang Solicitor General,” Palace Press Officer Undersecretary Atty. Claire Castro said at a press conference earlier on Tuesday. 

(Maybe Guevarra should assess himself if he is still fit to serve as Solicitor General.)

She also said that there were no discussions yet if Guevarra’s move was done in relation to his former post as justice secretary during the Duterte administration.

She also underscored the importance for the Palace to find another lawyer who is more willing to defend the government, which executed Duterte’s arrest.

“It is very important. It’s very significant to get another lawyer who is very competent and very effective in defending the causes of the government,” Castro said. —VAL, GMA Integrated News