Pubdate: Tue, 08 Mar 2005
Source: Manila Times (Philippines)
Copyright: 2005, The Manila Times
Contact:  http://www.manilatimes.net/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/921
Author: Marit Stinus-Remonde
Cited: Philippine National Police http://www.pnp.gov.ph
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?236 (Corruption - Outside U.S.)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/prison.htm (Incarceration)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/areas/Philippines

INNOCENT PEOPLE AT RISK

Mission Impossible

About a year ago, a young man  was awakened by a commotion outside his
small apartment in Cebu City. When he looked out, he saw his sister
being dragged away by a stranger.

He ran to her help, only to get himself punched and threatened with a
firearm.

The stranger turned out to be a policeman.

A moment later, the young man was handcuffed and brought to the police
station. Soon thereafter, Senior Inspector Ibones, the station
commander of Cebu City Police Station 5, filed a complaint with the
city prosecutor's office, charging the man with drug pushing and
possession of shabu.

Atty. Rodulph Carrillo, a prosecutor of the Cebu City prosecutor's
office, after going over the complaint and the counteraffidavit
executed by respondent, found that "the issues raised by the
respondent would be better treated in a full-blown hearing where the
parties may display all of their evidences." The recommendation was
approved by City Prosecutor Cesar Tajanlangit. Two criminal cases were
filed in court.

Two policemen testified during the trial.

One admitted that he never actually saw the accused sell or possess
shabu during the alleged buy-bust operation. His testimony was based
on what his fellow policemen had told him. The other policeman who
testified "could not connect the supposed marked money to the accused
because he could not recall the serial number, neither did he present
the piece of paper on which he allegedly noted the serial number
because he lost it. He also admitted that the police blotter does not
indicate the name of the person who gave the buy-bust operation money
to [the accused] nor the police officer who allegedly recovered it
from [the accused]" to quote the order of the judge.

Neither the police nor the officials of the barangay where the accused
lives had any prior derogatory record on the accused, which would link
him to illegal drugs or any other criminal activity.

The cases for possession of illegal drugs and drug pushing were
dismissed by the judge.

The prosecution had no evidence to connect the accused with the
alleged evidence.

But then, how could they, considering that the accused never possessed
nor sold any drugs in the first place; when he merely tried to defend
his sister from the manhandling by a civilian-clad stranger who turned
out to be a policeman?

A respected, high-ranking Cebu City police officer unofficially
verified that the accused was framed.

Yet, despite his top position, this police officer apparently never
tried to convince the arresting policemen to admit their mistake.

Instead, the policemen lied in open court, and could have ruined the
life of one innocent young man.

The accused spent about half a year in jail. Fortunately for him, he
is the employee of one of Cebu's most prominent and respected civic
leaders who not only provided a lawyer but also raised the bail bond
(only 3.5 percent of detainees are able to post bond, according to the
2004 Country Report on Human Rights Practices by the United States'
Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor). And fortunately for the
accused, the judge, unlike the policemen and the prosecutors, is
competent and honest.

If not, this young man who used to support himself through scavenging
and casual jobs in construction sites would still be in jail.

I attended a couple of the hearings at the Regional Trial Court. I
noticed that the accused in drug cases and other criminal cases are
treated as if they were already found guilty.

They are handcuffed to one another, and while everybody else is made
to observe dress code in the court room, the accused are wearing
shorts and slippers and look untidy-looking every bit like criminals.

I remembered this case as I went over the US country report on human
rights practices in the Philippines. The report mostly states the
obvious (though diplomatically worded): "The 113,000-member PNP has
deep-rooted institutional deficiencies . . . Judges and prosecutors
often failed to . . . provide due process and equal justice . . .
[P]overty often inhibited a defendant's access to effective legal
representation." The report contains many truths about the state of
the justice system, the pervasiveness of poverty, the sad state of the
education system, trafficking in women and children, among other human
rights related problems haunting this country.

The case from Cebu cited above illustrates how easy it is for an
innocent person to land in jail. While initially the injustice is
caused by a single policeman, the failure of his superiors and the
prosecutor to correct the wrong, either because of incompetence,
indifference or deliberate cover-up, shows that there is no assurance
that such injustice will be corrected.

How many innocent men and women are rotting in jail, either convicted
for crimes they never committed, or simply forgotten by the justice
system and by society? 
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