Gonzalez to NAKTAF-PACER Prosecutors: Uphold Rights of Suspects
December 15, 2004
Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez yesterday directed members of the National Anti-Kidnapping Task Force (NAKTAF)-Presidential Anti-Crime Emergency Response (PACER) to respect the fights of those arrested for any crime by the Task Force.
In his order directed to the Chairperson, Vice Chairperson and members of the NAKTAF-PACER, Secretary Gonzalez said whoever is arrested for any crime by the Task Force must be accorded their rights to substantive and procedural due process of law.
“While it is our duty to prosecute the guilty, it is also our bounden duty to protect the innocent,” the Justice Secretary said.
He further added that by according the victims their rights to substantive and procedural due process of law, this will prevent arrests without warrant. In some cases, he said, warrantless arrests are the result of incriminatory machination or tampering of evidence and outright extortion.
The Justice Secretary also warned prosecutors not to be used as instruments for violating the constitutional rights of arrested persons.
He then ordered the detail of one or two prosecutors at the headquarters of the NAKTAF-PACER to conduct inquest on rotation basis and to see to it that all persons arrested may not be coerced by law enforcers to give uncounseled statements.
In a memorandum, the Justice chief also directed Public Attorney’s Office (PAO) Chief Public Attorney Persida Rueda-Acosta to assigned at least one Public Attorney to be detained at the headquarters of the NAKTAF-PACER. PAO lawyers shall assist arrested persons during custodial investigation and inquest proceedings to protect their constitutional and statutory rights such as the right to counsel. The order included the monthly submission of a report to the Justice Secretary.
Lastly, Secretary Gonzalez also reminded inquest prosecutors to adhere to the provisions of Republic Act No. 7438, otherwise known as “An Act Defining Certain Rights of Persons Arrested, Detained or Under Custodial Investigation.”
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