There is another thing about the case filed against Senator Ping Lacson that tends to show how the DOJ of the past administration did everything in seeming haste and with an eye for a "deadline".
The case filed against the original accused in the Dacer-Corbito case was "Double Murder".
The case filed against Senator Ping Lacson in the Dacer-Corbito case was "Two Counts of Murder".
Nobody can argue that it was one and the same case. But why the difference?
Well, the DOJ did a legal maneuver by calling it "Two Counts of Murder" as it applied to Senator Lacson. That was because at the start of their preliminary investigation against Ping, they claimed IT IS A DIFFERENT CASE. Why would they do that?
Had they admitted at the time that it is ONE AND THE SAME CASE, as Ping's lawyer contended, the DOJ would have to seek a LEAVE OF COURT before conducting the preliminary investigation against Ping. That means they would spend more time before they could file the case against Ping. They would not be able to complete everything before the Arroyo administration stepped out of Malacanang and a new president took over. So they held on to the position that it is a DIFFERENT CASE and proceeded with their preliminary investigation WITHOUT LEAVE OF COURT.
But once the preliminary investigation was completed and a DOJ resolution was submitted to the court, the DOJ went along with the position of Ping's lawyer that it is ONE AND THE SAME CASE and that the case filed against Ping ought to be CONSOLIDATED WITH THE ORIGINAL CASE. That is why we can call it a legal maneuver. A sort of DIRTY TRICK that was consciously employed.
Remember when we were kids, a boy used to hold a flower in his hands, muttering as he removed its petals one by one: "She loves me, she loves me not, she loves me, she loves me not....."?
The DOJ did the same thing quite quickly: "DIFFERENT, THE SAME"!
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