Tuesday, June 30, 2015

Duterte orders police to speed up disposition of cases



DAVAO CITY, June 30 (PIA) Mayor Rodrigo Duterte ordered the Davao City Police Office to create a new office with the sole function just to serve subpoenas and summons.

Speaking in the Regional Peace and Order Council 11 meeting at the Meng Seng Hotel, he pledged to provide the office with a car and three motorcycles to be used solely for the delivery of court orders.

“The police must see to it that the summons and subpoena reach the persons concerned immediately,” Duterte said.

He asked the court to give the City Mayor’s Office 15 days to set up the office.

Duterte also urged the courts to furnish the office the summons and subpoenas for it to act accordingly.

He expressed dismay to the non-appearance of policemen in court which usually leads to the dismissal of cases.

Duterte also reiterated the warning that there is a penalty for either intentionally or unintentionally avoiding testimony in court.

“It can result to the dismissal of cases,” he stressed.

Duterte also ordered to resort to arrest policemen who receive the summons but remain absent in court hearings.

“A complaint against them might be filed before the Police City Director or the Philippine National Police, copy furnished the Justice Secretary, and surely they will have trouble explaining, because the law itself specifies a high penalty for their absence in court,” he said.

Earlier during the meeting, Regional Trial Court Branch 13 Presiding Judge Rowena Adlawan revealed that one of the issues and concerns besetting the drug courts is the non-appearance of policemen as witnesses which is one of the reasons for the delay in the disposition of cases and dismissal of drug cases against accused respondents. 

She cited their difficulty of looking for the policemen who have either retired from the service or have transferred assignments.

Adlawan also observed that as the cases drag on, only the prosecutor would show interest in pursuing the deliberation while the police loses the enthusiasm and would intentionally forget the details of the operation.

“That is why in the future, I will ask the Supreme Court to give us a Closed-Circuit Television so that for future reference they can assess the demeanor of the policeman testifying in court whether he would bungle the case or not, coupled with our stenographic notes.  Our court means business,” she stressed.

Adlawan said RTC Branch Nine and RTC Branch 13 are the courts designated by the Supreme Court to hear drug cases in the city.  (PIA 11-Joey Sem G. Dalumpines)

No comments:

Post a Comment