Crazy (for) Justice

There he goes again...

Acosta fires off counter-memo to Gonzalez

MANILA, Philippines – Chief Public Attorney Persida Acosta has refused to accept a reprimand from Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez for involving herself in ABS-CBN news anchor Ted Failon's brush with police for the shooting of his wife on April 15.

Gonzalez, whose office has supervision over the Public Attorney's Office, had described Acosta as “crazy” for insisting on interfering in the case when Failon hardly counted as an indigent accused in court, PAO's clientele.

“With all due respect, to the mind of the undersigned, the PAO has not violated any rule when it rendered provisional and limited assistance in favor of Mr. Failon and his driver,” Acosta wrote Gonzalez in a counter-memo dated April 16.

She reasoned that Failon's case fell under the exceptions laid down by Memorandum Circular 18 that she issued in 2002 (amending the standard office procedures in extending legal assistance), when PAO lawyers might “provisionally” accept cases pending verification of the applicant's indigence and merit of his case.
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Meanwhile, in a related news item...
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MANILA, Philippines – Public Attorney’s Office (PAO) chief Persida Rueda-Acosta on Friday scored Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez for calling her “crazy," saying the remark was libelous.
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She also stressed that although her office is under the DOJ, the PAO still gets to enjoy independence from other agencies.
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Acosta said she wondered why she was being called “crazy" when she has been teaching law at the Ateneo de Manila Law School and the Bulacan State University.
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