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CHIEF Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo on Saturday believed that the "time has finally come" for former President Benigno Aquino III to deal with the consequences of the 2015 Mamasapano incident that cost the lives of 44 elite police commandos.
“Sooner or later, the law will catch up with those who use power or wealth to shield themselves from the majesty of the law. There is a time for reckoning, and the time has finally come for the former president,” chief presidential legal adviser Salvador Panelo said in a statement yesterday.
"Dura lex sed lex (The law is hard, but it is the law), no power or wealth can escape from it; it can only delay its coming, but when it does, it operates ex propio vigore (with full force and effect),” he added.
Salvador Panelo is the Chief Legal Counsel of President Rodrigo Duterte and a former Director of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines, who also served as the former Davao City Mayor's legal adviser during his 2016 presidential campaign. As a private lawyer, he has handled cases involving politicians and other controversial personalities.
Panelo issued his statement a day after the Office of the Ombudsman ordered the filing of charges against Aquino for usurpation of authority and violation of the graft and corrupt practices act, citing criminal negligence in his involvement in planning the operation.
Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales, in a July 14 resolution, ordered the filing of charges against Aquino for usurpation of authority (Article 177 of the Revised Penal Code) and violation of section 3(a) of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act (Republic Act 3019) for his alleged liability in the Mamasapano carnage.
Malacañang said Friday that it respects the Office of the Ombudsman's decision to file criminal charges against Aquino as President Rodrigo Duterte pinned hope "to finally bring justice to the victims and families of the "Fallen 44" and put closure to the issue, as part of the healing process."
Source: PhilStar, SunStar
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