Enrile wants Zamboanga prosecutors fired over coral poaching cases

Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile on Monday asked the Department of Justice (DOJ) to relieve two state prosecutors in Zamboanga for their alleged delay in acting on the cases filed against a suspected coral poacher and supplier. During Monday's Senate environment committee hearing, Enrile asked the DOJ to relieve Zamboanga City prosecutors Alfredo Jimenez Jr. and Faustino Bernabe. According to Enrile, the two prosecutors failed to resolve immediately the poaching cases filed against Joe Pring (a.k.a. Jok Beng, aka Jo Beng Li, aka Li Yu Ming), one of the owners of the Zamboanga-based Li and Lim Trading, in 2007 and 2008. "Maybe at this time the department should take over the case, reinvestigate it, file the proper charges and then relieve these guys from their job and investigate them for the satisfaction of the Senate," he said. For her part, Justice Sec. Leila de Lima said she will order two prosecutors relieved of their positions "if there is really an unexplained delay in the resolution of that case." Speaking to reporters, De Lima said that last week, she has asked Prosecutor General Claro Arellano for a list of the prosecutors who have failed to complied with an earlier order to expedite the resolution of cases under preliminary investigation. "I will still look into that. It's really difficult. Much as I would want to really discipline our prosecutors, if we cite many prosecutors administratively, it might affect the institution. But really, it's time our prosecutors should be conscious about the need to dispose of cases within the prescribed time. As you know, justice delayed is justice denied," said De Lima. Prosecutors' defense However, prosecutor Jimenez said the coral poaching case against Pring was given to him in 2007 but that he filed the case before the Municipal Trial Court only last week because he was "saddled" with other cases when he was transferred to Isabela. Bernabe likewise said it took him a while to resolve the case against Pring given to him in 2008, which is possession of protected marine species, because he was also handling many cases. Enrile, however, countered that Jimenez and Bernabe's delayed action worsened the damage created by the couple's alleged poaching business. He likewise said it should not take long for them to resolve the cases because the cases were supposedly simple. "Do you think you deserve to stay in the service? If I were in your place I would quit," he said. Aside from the reinvestigation of the case and relief of the two prosecutors, Enrile also asked the DOJ to ask for the extradition of Pring and his wife Olivia Lim Li into the country. DOJ undersecretary Ricardo Paras III, who was also present during the hearing, said that he will take up the matter with Justice Sec. Leila de Lima when they meet later in the day. Earlier in the hearing, the Senate sergeant-at-arms revealed that the couple fled the country last week. Li and Lim trading had tapped the shipping firm JKA Transport system to ship 163 stuffed hawkbills and green turtles; 21,169 pieces of black corals; 7,340 pieces of Trumpet and Helmet shells and 196 kilograms of sea whips. The items were declared as raw rubber. As of posting time, the Senate hearing is still going on. —With a report by Sophia Dedace VVP/VS, GMA News