Lawyer’s group slams return to work of prosecutor caught accepting bribe

Office of the Ombudsman building. FILE PHOTO

A lawyers’ group has asked the Office of the Ombudsman to suspend a Quezon City assistant prosecutor who recently posted bail in connection with a bribery complaint.

The National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL) said Raul Desembrana had resumed work after his arrest and brief detention by the National Bureau of Investigation, which caught him taking an P80,000 bribe from an NUPL lawyer in a sting operation on Nov. 14.

In a statement on Saturday, the NUPL noted that Desembrana simply went back to work on Nov. 17, like it was “business as usual.”

“It is incongruous and anomalous that a public prosecutor, who wields so much power…. and who is caught in flagrante delicto soliciting and receiving dirty money, is allowed to prance around like it is business as usual. It does not inspire trust and confidence in our justice system,” NUPL secretary general Edre Olalia said in the statement.

While the prosecutor may be presumed innocent until proven guilty, “he must not…. be allowed to carry on as if nothing happened and to secure an opportunity to cover up his tracks or, heaven forbid, possibly victimize countless others,” Olalia said.

The NBI operation stemmed from the complaint in the Department of Justice by an NUPL member, Ephraim Cortez, who said Desembrana asked for P80,000 in exchange for the dismissal of a case against Cortez’s clients.

Cortez is the lawyer of Dr. Alexis Montes and son Connor, who were sued for unjust vexation by Reuben Espartinez, a retired military chaplain.

The elder Montes is part of the so-called Morong 43, a group of health workers arrested by the military in 2010 in Morong, Rizal province, for alleged links with the communist New People’s Army. The group has since been an NUPL client.

A trap for Desembrana was set by the NBI at a restaurant inside Quezon Memorial Circle, with Cortez himself handing over the marked money to the prosecutor.

After spending a night in detention, Desembrana posted bail at P60,000 on Nov. 15. He faces charges for direct bribery and violation of the code of conduct for public officials.

In a phone interview, Olalia said the NUPL on Friday filed a motion in the Ombudsman seeking Desembrana’s preventive suspension.

Olalia said the NUPL decided to file the motion after learning from other lawyers that Desembrana had resumed the conduct of preliminary investigations in his office.

“By having him suspended, we want to ensure that he won’t be able to cover his tracks, and preserve the integrity of and public confidence in the justice system. We also want to preclude the possibility, which is already well-grounded, that there will be other victims,” the NUPL official said.

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