Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra is set to meet next week with members of the Task Force Against Corruption (TFAC) to determine which of the complaints and reports it has received will be investigated.
“All complaints so far received by the Task Force Against Corruption secretariat are now being screened and evaluated,” the secretary said.
“I will call a meeting of the main task force next week to identify which of these complaints will be the subject of special investigating teams,” he disclosed.
Last Oct. 27, President Duterte issued a memorandum which directed Guevarra to form and lead a task force to investigate corruption in government until his term ends in June 2022.
Aside from the DOJ, the task force consists of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), the Office of the Special Assistant to the President (OSAP), the Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission (PACC), the National Prosecution Service (NPS), the DOJ’s Office of Cybercrime (OOC), and the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC).
Just last Wednesday, Nov. 25, Guevarra assured that the TFAC will not be excluded from investigations that will be conducted.
The secretary pointed this out even after the President said during the public address that was televised Monday night, Nov. 23, that the executive branch cannot take action against legislators involved in corrupt activities.
“When it comes to criminal investigation and prosecution, no one is exempt, except those enjoying immunity from suit during their tenure,” the secretary earlier said.
Guevarra also pointed out that “it’s the corrupt act or transaction that is being investigated.”
“Kung sino man ang sasabit, it will not matter kung outside the executive department siya (Whoever is involved, it will not matter if the person is outside the executive department,” he explained.