By Joyce Pa?ares and Rey Requejo

PRESIDENT Arroyo has overruled Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez and ordered the temporary relief of Justice Undersecretary Ricardo Blancaflor, Chief State Prosecutor Jovencito Zu?o, and three state prosecutors who were implicated in the bribery controversy involving the so-called Alabang Boys.

In a statement released yesterday from the Malaca?ang Sa Sugbu in Cebu, the President ordered Gonzalez to require the leave of absence of all Justice officials who had allegedly received bribes in exchange for the release of suspected drug dealers from influential families.

?No one should be spared,? Mrs. Arroyo said. ?The full force of the government?s powers to act against those that betray public trust should be applied swiftly and unequivocally, more so in this case which include illegal drugs?society?s cancer?on the one hand, and supposed pillars of the justice system on the other.?

Blancaflor and Zu?o aside, the order would also affect state prosecutors John Resado, Philip Kimpo and Misael Ladaga, Gonzalez said.

?We will comply with the President?s order. We will get to the bottom of this alleged bribery attempt,? said Gonzalez, who rejected last week the prosecutors? request to be relieved of their duties in a special task force against illegal drugs.

The President issued the order after retired general Dionisio Santiago, head of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, claimed that Zu?o and the three prosecutors were offered P50 million in exchange for dismissing the drug cases against Joseph Tecson, Richard Brodett and Jorge Joseph, who have been detained since September.

Zu?o, who has consistently denied having received any bribe offer, stressed that the department?s finding that there was no probable cause to charge the suspects was proof that the prosecutors decided without consideration of any bribe.

?There is no problem with me taking a leave of absence, but concerned PDEA officials must also do the same,? said Kimpo, who recommended the approval of the Dec. 2 resolution dismissing the charges against the three suspects. Kimpo handled the case that resulted in the imprisonment of the late actor Ace Vergel.

Resado, who handled the case against the three suspects, criticized the PDEA for resorting to a psychological warfare and ?blowing the issue out of proportion.? Resado said that of the 43 drug cases that the PDEA filed before the Justice Department, 40 were filed in court.

Ladaga, who reviewed the resolution, could not be reached for comment. He was one of the prosecutors who handled the case stemming from the drug den that was discovered in Pasig City in 2007.

Earlier, Gonzalez rejected the request of the members of the Justice Department Task Force on Anti-Narcotics and Dangerous Drug to resign en masse, because they claimed to be disturbed by insinuations of bribery.

Zu?o, who leads the task force, said the prosecutors numbering 20 complained that they could not work under the cloud of doubt raised by the PDEA.