Devanadera formally assumes top DOJ post

MANILA, Philippines – Solicitor General Agnes Devanadera officially assumed her new post yesterday as acting secretary of the Department of Justice (DOJ), vowing to improve the prosecution of cases as well as minimize graft among prosecutors.

In an interview with reporters, Devanadera said she intends to speed up the resolution of cases through decentralization.

“I shall give more assignments to undersecretaries so we can fast-track resolution of cases,” she said. “It’s important to maximize our resources to be able to meet public demand.”

Devanadera believes that the decentralization of powers – one of the major reforms she aims to introduce to the DOJ – can also help prevent corruption in the department.

“Corruption is usually paired with too much latitude of discretion. Now if you decentralize, which is under the original structure of the DOJ anyway, that can prevent graft. We are working on systems against graft,” she stressed.

On her first day as DOJ acting chief, Devanadera discovered – after taking an inventory – that there are about 11,000 pending cases.

She said she would next set targets and tap all heads of offices under the department to determine how many cases could be resolved in a certain period of time.

“Everywhere I go reforms should be there because those are part of a dynamic office,” she stressed.

Asked which cases she plans to prioritize, she replied: “Media killings, human trafficking, drug cases and high-profile cases that caught public attention.”

Devanadera also vowed to be always impartial in prosecuting cases.

“The DOJ’s twin functions as the prosecutorial arm and at the same time the government’s attorney-general shall serve as the rallying point in fulfilling our principal mandate of rendering an impartial and expeditious administration of justice to the people,” she said.

“We have the public watching us and really examining us day by day and blow by blow and from what we have learned from Manong Raul, to do our duty with passion and fashion,” she said, referring to her predecessor Raul Gonzalez.

The new DOJ chief admitted that her daughter, Ann Noreen, is a prosecutor at the department and appealed to the media to spare the latter from intrigues since she only wants to work in the government.