Duterte-appointed chief prosecutor resigns

MANILA, Philippines – Prosecutor General Benedicto Malcontento, an appointee of former president Rodrigo Duterte, resigned from his post.

Malcontento tendered his resignation to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in a letter dated Wednesday, October 16. His resignation was also confirmed by Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin “Boying” Remulla, who oversees the National Prosecution Service (NPS).

Malcontento did not specify the reason for his resignation. In August, he had said that he was on “wellness leave.”

For months, Richard Anthony Fadullon has been serving as the acting prosecutor general and has been the signatory in NPS resolutions. Fadullon also previously served in an acting capacity before Malcontento’s appointment under Duterte.

Malcontento’s resignation paves the way for Marcos to appoint a new head for the NPS, which is “primarily responsible for the preliminary investigation and prosecution of all cases involving violations of penal laws.” The prosecutor general is a powerful position as it heads the office which holds the power to probe and approve criminal cases to be filed in courts against citizens.

In 2019, then-president Duterte picked private lawyer Malcontento as prosecutor general. An alumnus of the San Beda College of Law and a member of Duterte’s fraternity Lex Talionis, Malcontento campaigned for Duterte with their fraternity brothers during the 2016 presidential election.

Cases under Malcontento include the conspiracy to commit sedition case filed against Duterte critics, including former senator Antonio Trillanes IV in 2020. The case stemmed from the so-called “Totoong Narco List” video of Peter Joemel Advincula, alias Bikoy, who accused the Duterte camp of involvement in the illegal drug trade. The then-president blamed Trillanes for the video.

But Advincula later flip-flopped, and in 2023, a Quezon City court junked the case for insufficiency of evidence. – Rappler.com