STATEMENT OF ACTING JUSTICE SECRETARY AGNES VST DEVANADERA
10 October 2007
The Department of Justice, under my leadership, has intensified efforts of government to prosecute cases of unexplained killings of individuals which human rights groups tag as extra-judicial killings.
I have issued Department Order No. 841 dated 10 October 2007 directing all prosecutors to expedite and prioritize cases of human rights and extra-judicial killings, the coverage of which are cases where the suspects or perpetrators are members of the military, police and other law enforcement agencies.
Under this Department Order, I have directed all handling prosecutors to give utmost priority to these cases by conducting marathon preliminary investigation. All cases must be resolved within the prescribed period of sixty (60) days from date of filing with any prosecution office. Any extension of said period shall be considered only in meritorious cases but in no case to exceed thirty (30) days.
In cases which are undergoing trial in court, the prosecutors are hereby directed to prioritize the prosecution thereof by ensuring that successive dates of trial are requested from the court and that any and all forms of postponement are avoided. Monitoring of these cases shall be done by the Office of Assistant Chief State Prosecutor Richard Anthony Fadullon.
I have also ordered the strengthening of the task force in the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) with the creation of a crack team of lawyers and investigators that will conduct a comprehensive investigation of human rights and extra-judicial cases brought to our attention. This task force shall now include DNA analysts and forensic chemists, scene of the crime operatives, enforcers and expert interviewers. The NBI, as the investigative arm of the DOJ will coordinate with the National Prosecution Service (NPS) in the case build up and prosecution of these cases and cooperate with the Philippine National Police if needed.
In order not to frustrate the ends of justice, I have also directed the Chief Public Attorney to designate Public Attorney's Office (PAO) lawyers who will be specially trained to handle these cases to assist those who have been charged as well as provide legal assistance to the victims of these crimes.
These efforts shall fall under the Bantay Katarungan program that will comprehensively address the issues on extra-judicial killings.
The four components of this program are: Investigation, NBI Task Force under Director Nestor Mantaring; Prosecution, NPS Task Force under Chief State Prosecutor Jovencito Zuno; Legal Assistance, Public Attorney's Office under Chief Public Attorney Persida Rueda Acosta; and Witness Protection Program under Director Leo Dacera.
To date, the DOJ is prosecuting twenty-three (23) cases of extra-judicial killings. We will be coordinating with the PNP particularly Task Force Usig to come up with a common working definition of the cases involved herein and so that our efforts will be coordinated in addressing this issue.
While government may have initial problems in addressing the issue of extra-judicial killings, we are confident that with the help of the public in reporting such crimes, we will eventually overcome these problems. I refer particularly to those who have knowledge of the said killings and we assure them of protection under the government's Witness Protection and Benefit Program. Rest assured that the Department is continuously working on strengthening the program to cover more witnesses and more comprehensive and secured coverage of the witnesses involved.
We will be reporting to the public every month on the progress of the program and the cases we are currently handling.
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