DOJ expediting resolution of raps vs LTO chief

(Updated 5:11 p.m.) Justice Secretary Leila de Lima on Monday said she has ordered department prosecutors to fast-track the two-year-old case filed against Land Transportation Office head Virginia Torres in connection with an allegedly illegal registration of a vehicle. De Lima confirmed that in 2009, the Philippine National Police's Highway Patrol Group filed with the Department of Justice a complaint against Torres, who was then head of the LTO's Tarlac City office. Torres supposedly facilitated the illegal registration of a Mitsubishi Pajero. "I checked the status of that case. It's for resolution, so it's just a matter of a few days when we're going to have a resolution," De Lima told reporters. She then voiced disappointment that it took the prosecutors handling the police's complaint two years to resolve the matter. "Of course, this frustrates me. Sometimes, there are other prosecutors who go beyond the mandated timetable. I told this morning Prosecutor General [Claro Arellano] to instruct the handling prosecutors to resolve the case," said De Lima. Still innocent Later in the day, a senior Malacañang official said they still consider Torres innocent until proven otherwise. "There’s a constitutional presumption of innocence there. So, until such time that the case has been filed or a case has been decided. Let’s give [Asec] Torres the presumption of innocence," said presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda. Reports have described Torres as a close friend and shooting buddy of President Benigno Aquino III. On whether such relationship would have an effect on the case, Lacierda would only say: "The President believes in due process." On Monday, the Philippine Daily Inquirer reported that the police's Highway Patrol Group lodged a complaint against Torres and 25 other police and LTO employees over the questionable registration of a Mitsubishi Pajero. Torres supposedly violated Article 171 of the Revised Penal Code, which prohibits public officers from falsifying documents. At present, the DOJ and the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) are conducting a joint investigation into the alleged ties between car theft syndicates and LTO and police officials. De Lima said the DOJ-DILG already have some leads on the coddlers of car theft syndicates. "We have information and evidence that car theft is facilitated through the connivance of co-opted or compromised LTO officials and personnel. Carnapped vehicles are hard to market if new registration papers are not issued," said De Lima. — Sophia Dedace/RSJ, GMA News