Insiders who spoke under the customary condition of anonymity said State Prosecutor Pamela Escobar, Perez’s chief of staff who was promoted to senior state prosecutor last August, has succeeded in "centralizing" the flow of papers at the DOJ.
Undersecretary Manuel Teehankee, with whom Escobar had a recent rift, confirmed that resolutions on petitions for review that used to need his approval will now have to go through Escobar’s office, departing from previous procedures.
Two department orders — Nos. 350 and 351 — were issued on Oct. 1 in a span of 10 minutes; the first stripping Teehankee of his duties and transferring these to Undersecretary Merceditas Gutierrez, and the second designating him as DOJ spokesman.
"I’m not confirming or denying that incident. I operate as a professional. I don’t let personal friction affect my official functions and duties. It just involved internal policies and procedures," a source told The STAR over the phone yesterday.
Reliable sources said the 300 petition-for-review cases Teehankee was supposed to turn over to Gutierrez are now in the custody of Escobar, and have not yet been signed by the newly designated undersecretary who just arrived from Bangkok, Thailand.
DOJ officials have raised concerns, however, because of persistent rumors that Escobar allegedly demanded P250,000 from a litigant whose doctor-client was recommended charged with maltreating his 13-year-old son in a child abuse case.
The case, in which the Department of Social Welfare and Development in Makati City was the complainant, was forwarded to Chief State Prosecutor Jovencito Zuño on Sept. 21. It was received by the DOJ and turned over to Escobar Sept. 24.
Sources said a 50 percent downpayment was allegedly made to Escobar. It could not be ascertained, however, whether the decision was already favorable to the doctor or if the payment has been completed.
"This is too much. There has to be a dialogue. We cannot just go on like this. Everybody is affected, even Escobar’s prosecutor-colleagues. Perez is not dumb not to know these things. He cannot just keep on signing all those DOs," an official said.
And for no reason at all, State Prosecutor Robert Lao was removed as evaluator of the Witness Protection Program (WPP) and member of the panel on recanting witnesses. So was Senior State Prosecutor Philip Aguinaldo, former Ilocos regional prosecutor.
Escobar’s application to become the next Assistant Chief State Prosecutor after Lualhati Buenafe retires on Nov. 18 is already with President Arroyo, the sources said.
But they added Escobar might have problems because under Civil Service Commission rules, a public official cannot be promoted twice in six months.
On the financial aspect, another reliable source divulged that contrary to the previous policy of the WPP, director Leo Dacera III ironically doesn’t have authority to disburse the program’s intelligence funds.
"The WPP director is no longer the special disbursing officer now. All funds that have to be released need the approval of Escobar and Perez," he said, saying this SDO privilege was enjoyed by Dacera’s predecessors –from Ronaldo Olalia, Ramon Garcia, Jude Romano, Severino Gaña, to Philip Aguinaldo.
The same sources revealed that Escobar even wanted Aguinaldo to sign a P500,000 liquidation regarding WPP funds, which she succeeded in doing so. Aguinaldo, Dacera’s predecessor, was however unavailable for comment.