10 PROSECUTORS INVOLVED IN CASE-FIXING

MANILA, Philippines-About 10 prosecutors handling various cases are
involved in the alleged "cases for sale" at the Department of Justice
(DOJ), Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez told reporters at a forum Wednesday.

Gutierrez said her office, together with the National Bureau of
Investigation, was already looking into reports she received that
several prosecutors were engaged in case-fixing.

"I will not be specific. We cannot divulge details yet because it will
derail the investigation," she said.

Gutierrez said she got the information at the time of the alleged
bribery at the department for the release of the "Alabang Boys" broke
out.

"I cannot recall if it's before or after," she said in the Newsmakers
Breakfast Forum.

Identify prosecutors

Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez challenged Gutierrez to name the state
prosecutors who are being investigated for alleged
case-fixing.

"She should identify the people . I have not seen any fixer here
because nobody can fix me," he said.

There are about 2,000 prosecutors all over the country, still 600
short of what the DOJ needs, according to Gonzalez.

"As a matter of courtesy she should tell us," Gonzalez
insisted.

Two ranking justice officials and three prosecutors went on leave
following allegations that they accepted P50 million in exchange for
the dropping of the drug charges against three rich young men-Richard
Brodett, Joseph Tecson and Jorge Joseph.

The insinuations came from officials of the Philippine Drug
Enforcement Agency, who also claimed that a relative of one of the
so-called Alabang Boys dangled bribe offers ranging from P3 million to
P20 million for the release of the three suspects.

Not limited to drug case

Gutierrez said the prosecutors involved in the reported case-fixing
were not limited to drug cases.

Reacting to a statement that the DOJ was a "department store of
justice where one can shop if one has money," Gutierrez said: "I think
that's unfair for others in the DOJ. There are more prosecutors who
can be trusted."

Gutierrez had been with the justice department for 21
years.

On Monday, the Ombudsman called on "whistle-blowers" to see her and
help her stamp out reported corruption in the DOJ.

Gutierrez told reporters her office had launched an investigation of
the alleged bribery of some prosecutors in exchange for the release of
the Alabang Boys arrested in September last year for selling drugs.
She said the probe would be broadened to include other reports of
supposed corruption in the department.

Her message to whistle-blowers: "See me in my office. We will treat
with confidentiality the information that you will provide."

"We have to investigate this selling of cases and, of course, we need
our whistle-blowers. We need evidence. We need to fix this problem so
we can change the perception," Gutierrez said.

"If we find that they committed violations, then by all means we will
file cases against them," she said.

Private lawyers, too

Gutierrez said her office would also investigate private
lawyers.

"I heard there are also private lawyers frequenting the DOJ, visiting
the prosecutors. What does that mean? You can tell me, why do private
lawyers frequent the DOJ?" Gutierrez said.

"I will not name who these private lawyers are," Gutierrez said. "I
will be getting information from some of the prosecutors themselves
who were with me when I was at the DOJ."

She said these private lawyers could be liable for violations of legal
ethics and, depending on the investigation, "we will recommend what
measures can be taken and that can be submitted to the Integrated Bar
of the Philippines for proper actions."

Gutierrez spoke to reporters after attending the launch of an
anticorruption training at the University of the Philippines. The
training is for officials at the Office of the Ombudsman and the
Bureau of Internal Revenue.

The training is sponsored by the US Agency for International
Development and the Millennium Challenge Corp