SOLICITOR General Jose Calida has lauded the decision of the Supreme Court (SC) junking the petition of fugitive suspected drug lord Peter Lim to stop the Department of Justice’s (DoJ’s) investigation against the latter.
“The OSG (Office of the Solicitor General) is pleased with the Resolution of the Supreme Court that dismissed the Petition for Certiorari of Mr. Peter Go Lim (alias Jaguar),” Calida said in a statement.
“Although Mr. Lim remains at large to this day, the dismissal of the petition stands as proof that the judicial system in the Philippines is at its best,” he stated.
The DoJ conducted a preliminary investigation against Lim and his co-accused based on the complaint filed last year by the Philippine National Police-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (PNP-CIDG).
However, the DoJ dismissed the complaint last December due to weak evidence.
When then Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II did not accept the dismissal and ordered the continuation of the preliminary investigation over the same complaint, Lim filed a petition before the SC asking that the DoJ be stopped from conducting the probe.
“The OSG took the cudgels as counsels for the PNP-CIDG and was successful in establishing probable cause that led to the filing of the criminal information in the Regional Trial Court of Makatiagainst Mr. Lim, Mr. Peter Co, Mr. Kerwin Espinosa, et al,” Calida recounted. (Jeffrey Damicog)