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Datumanong orders resolution of drug cases within 30 days
September 2, 2003
In line with the no let up thrust against illegal drugs, Justice Secretary Simeon A. Datumanong ordered all prosecutors to resolve drug and related cases within thirty days.
In Department Circular No. 65, Secretary Datumanong ordered prosecutors nationwide to terminate preliminary investigation of drug cases within 30 days from the date of assignment.
"Failure to comply shall be ground for the witholding of allowances, without prejudice to administrative disciplinary sanctions," Secretary Datumanong said.
To secure compliance, the Certificate of Service filed as a requirement of the payment of salaries shall include a certification by the prosecutor concerned that he has no pending drug cases for preliminary/reinvestigation and review more than the prescribed timetable.
Secretary Datumanong said the directive also applies to appeals or petitions for review of said cases in which the computation of the period shall be reckoned from the date the assigned reviewing prosecutor receives the records of the case.
Drug cases originally investigated by Municipal Trial Courts and later transmitted to the Provincial/City Prosecutors pursuant to Section 5, Rule 112 of the Revised Rules of Criminal Procedures shall also get similar application of the issued circular.
Only in exceptional cases or for valid and meritorious reasons may the timeframe be extended by the Regional, Provincial, City or Office of the Chief State Prosecutor, as the case may be, but in no case shall the extension exceed fifteen days.
To effectively monitor the status of the case, Secretary Datumanong has ordered Assistant Chief State Prosecutor Nilo Mariano and Senior State Prosecutor Purita Deynata to submit to the Dangerous Drugs Board and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency a quarterly report.
In circular #64, the Chief State Prosecutor and all Regional State Prosecutors from Region I to XII and ARMM to create monitoring teams within their respective areas of jurisdiction.
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