PAO chief hurt by Gonzalez's 'crazy' remark

MANILA, Philippines - Public Attorney's Office (PAO) chief Persida Rueda Acosta is hurt by the "crazy" remark made by Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez against her. Acosta, who broke into tears on Monday during an interview with a local television network, said Gonzalez's remark "virtually tarnished her reputation." "Ang masakit lang ay parang nasira po ang pagkatao ko. Nasa Internet sinakyan na ng mga masasamang pag iisip. Nandyan na ho yang damage na yan," Acosta said even as she maintained that her actions to provide assistance for Failon was justifiable. [What’s painful here was that my reputation was virtually tarnished. It’s on the Internet and was used by those people with bad intentions. The damage has already been done.] The April 15 shooting of Ted Failon’s wife, Trinidad Arteche Etong, prompted Acosta to assist the broadcaster. She said her office would lend its services to Failon on a temporary basis. At the same time, at the height of the investigation, she virtually cleared Failon from the crime by saying his in-laws would not support him if insinuations that he killed his wife were true. Gonzalez said Acosta's decision to help Failon was crazy because helping the news anchor was not within PAO's mandate. The Justice secretary also issued a memo against Acosta ordering her to refrain from meddling in the case. He said the PAO chief went beyond her mandate as public lawyer because Failon could afford to hire a private counsel and that her action was a “conflict of interest." Acosta, however, insisted that she was just doing her job. "Pag hindi ko naman po ginawa ang tungkulin ko papagalitan ako sigurado. Eh ako kailanman hindi ako napagalitan ni Pangulong Gloria." [If I will not do my job I would be reprimanded for sure. But I have never been reprimanded by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.] She also insisted her office’s independence from the Department of Justice, contrary to what Gonzalez claimed. She even called for the implementation of Republic Act 9406, which mandates the autonomy of her office from the DOJ. "’Yung pong sinasabi na under control kami ng DOJ noong araw po 'yon. Obsolete na po 'yon. Para na po kaming mga solicitors. Para na po kaming CHR [Commission on Human Rights] kasi may independence and autonomy na po kami," she said. [Their claims that we are still under the DOJ is already outdated. It’s obsolete. We are like solicitors now. We are now like the CHR because we have independence and autonomy.] Gonzalez explained that while PAO already has autonomy, its budget is still attached to the DOJ, making the PAO still under his department. At the same time, Gonzalez denied ever giving Acosta a hard time for reprimanding her over Failon’s case, saying such accusation was “very shallow." - Aie Balagtas See, GMANews.TV