Justice Secretary de Lima stays in Cabinet - Malacañang

Justice Secretary Leila de Lima will stay in the Cabinet after all.

Presidential Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda confirmed this Wednesday in a phone patch interview with Malacanang reporters after he spoke with de Lima Tuesday night.

Lacierda said de Lima acknowledged the differences in opinion between her IIRC report with the legal study of Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa and Presidential Legal Counsel Ed de Mesa.

Lacierda said President Aquino has emphasized that the nature of the IIRC report is recommendatory and that it is the President’s prerogative to adopt or modify the report. He did so by referring the IIRC report to Ochoa and de Mesa for further study.

Reacting to published reports of the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism that de Lima had recommended filing of criminal and administrative charges, Lacierda said “there was no criminal negligence so there can’t be criminal charges.”

To read the rest of this dispatch, which was issued by the Office of the President, please click on this link: http://www.president.gov.ph/news/default.aspx?n=De Lima stays in cabinet, says Lacierda