What is it about Cebu City Asst. Prosecutor Mary Ann Castro that allowed her to stay in office regardless of the cases lodged against her?
Liberal Party (LP) senatorial candidate Leila de Lima wanted to find that out when she dropped by the Cebu Daily News newsroom late last year. The former Justice secretary said she had inquired about the controversial fiscal from her colleagues here, who couldn’t answer why she has managed to do so in the first place.
While there is speculation that she may know a few skeletons in the closets of some people in power, her latest brush with the law may prove to be her undoing.
“Nakakahiya (Humiliating). If I were her (Castro), I would resign. She’s been doing a lot of damage and injury to the institution,” an enraged De Lima told CDN over the phone yesterday.
While De Lima asked Prosecutor General Claro Arellano to investigate Castro for her latest infraction, namely, her being charged with direct assault for allegedly attacking the common-law partner of her estranged husband Greco Sanchez inside the Regional Special Operations Task Group (RSOG) office in Camp Sergio Osmeña, a suspension order issued against her for a previous case has yet to be implemented.
To which Castro shrugged and replied that she hopes she wouldn’t be used by politicians for their grandeur, a reference to De Lima. “I respect her since she is a sister in the legal profession. I hope she gives me the same respect,” she said.
Regardless of De Lima’s accusation that Castro was campaigning for Vice President Jejomar Binay and One Cebu gubernatorial candidate Winston Garcia, the fact remains that the controversial prosecutor has become an embarrassment to Cebu City prosecutors and her colleagues in government service.
Her latest episode didn’t even involve government business. It centered on her beef with the common-law partner of her estranged husband Greco Sanchez, who wasn’t anywhere remotely near the RSOG headquarters when Castro supposedly broke into it and hit her before her children.
That she brought along people who claimed that she lied to them when she told them that they were entering her office belied her claims that she wasn’t resorting to violence when she dealt with her rival for her husband’s affections.
De Lima said Castro should be dismissed for repeated acts of misconduct, and a thorough review of Castro’s record bears out the former Justice secretary’s position.
Most of the cases raised against Castro, the latest being charges of direct assault and malicious mischief in relation to that RSOG office altercation, involved personal business which not only disrupted her effectivity but compromised her integrity as a prosecutor.
Given her record, we join others in asking thus: Should Castro continue to stay in her post?
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