Remulla increases standards for filing of criminal charges

JUSTICE Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla has issued a department circular raising the bar for the filing of criminal cases in court.

The circular issued on Friday directed state prosecutors to immediately withdraw the charges that have no “reasonable certainty of conviction,” in effect doing away with preliminary investigations meant to determine “probable cause” to pursue the case. The circular defined charges with a “reasonable certainty of conviction” as those supported by “prima facie evidence,” meaning the case could hold water or stand scrutiny at the court.

BI intercepts 7 suspected human trafficking victims

n By VITO BARCELO

BUREAU of Immigration (BI) operatives at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) have intercepted seven suspected human trafficking victims who tried to leave for Iraq disguised as tourists.

Immigration Commissioner Norman Tansingco said the group was intercepted at the NAIA Terminal 1 before they could board a Scoot Airways flight to Singapore.

Tansingco said the passengers, all women, admitted during questioning that their final destination was Erbil, Iraq where they were supposed to work as janitress with a monthly pay of $1,000.

The government has banned the deployment of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) to Iraq due to pervasive violence in that country.

Tansingco said the women were turned over to the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT) for further investigation and filing of charges against their recruiters.

The women’s names were not divulged as the law prohibits public disclosure of human trafficking victims’ identities.

The investigators said the women disclosed that their travel to Iraq was arranged by a travel agency based in Makati.

Upon arrival in Singapore, the group was supposed to board connecting flights to Dubai or Qatar en route to Iraq.

The victims also revealed that at least 30 Filipinos were recruited by the syndicate to work in Iraq for the same employer.

Citing the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) policy direction to file only cases with reasonable certainty of conviction and the Justice Sector Coordinating Council’s (JSCC) efforts to resolve court backlogs, Remulla advised the prosecutors to “carefully assess all their cases and to determine if each has a reasonable certainty of conviction based on the evidence in hand, availability of witnesses, and continued interest of private complainants.”

The Rules of Court, under Rule 112 on preliminary investigations, currently requires only that there should be a “well-founded belief that a crime has been committed and the respondent is probably guilty thereof, and should be recommended for trial.

Remulla initially suggested raising the degree of proof for filing criminal cases in court from “probable cause” to “reasonable certainty of conviction” before a JSCC meeting in Baguio in January.

A press statement by the Supreme Court (SC) quoted Remulla as saying; “We all know that there is a need to narrow the great divide between the current degree of proof needed for the filing of a criminal information, probable cause, and that of conviction, which is proof beyond reasonable doubt.”

The JSCC is jointly chaired by the Chief Justice and the secretaries of the Department of Justice and the Department of the Interior and Local Government.

DOJ spokesman Mico Clavano said the circular was based on the executive function of the Justice Secretary.

“His policy is to file only quality cases in court - cases that will yield convictions,” Clavano said.

He explained that as a result of the big difference between ‘probable cause’ and ‘proof beyond reasonable doubt,’ conviction rate suffers and the congestion in jails worsened with some inmates released only after they are acquitted.

Inbrief

Bill mandates specialty hospitals for the regions

DAVAO City Rep. Paolo Duterte on Saturday pressed the passage of a bill proposing the establishment of specialty hospitals in major regions in the country to bring quality healthcare closer to people living outside Metro Manila.

Duterte, co-author of House Bill (HB) 6857, cited the need to establish these specialty hospitals in Northern Luzon, Southern Luzon, Visayas, Northern . and Southern Mindanao. The type of specialty hospital would be determined by the Department of Health based on its assessment of the prevailing illnesses in the area.

Such specialty hospitals, Duterte said, include branches of the Philippine Heart Center, the National Kidney and Transplant Institute, the Lung Center of the Philippines, the Philippine Children’s Medical Center, and the projected Philippine Cancer Center.

The bill’s authors pointed out that existing specialty hospitals are all located in Metro Manila. Maricel V. Cruz

VCMs to be deployed for Cavite special polls

THE Commission on Elections (Comelec) is set to send out vote counting machines (VCMs) and other election paraphernalia next weekend for the special polls in the 7th District of Cavite slated Feb. 25.

The 426 VCMs will be deployed on Feb. 18 and 19 while simultaneous final testing in all 75 voting centers will be on Feb. 19, Comelec chair George Garcia said.

The printing of 355,184 official ballots started on Jan. 11.

The special polls will be held in the municipalities of Amadeo, Indang and Tanza, and Trece Martires City to pick the districts congressman, a post vacated with the appointment of Jesus Crispin Remulla as Justice Secretary.

PARTNERSHIP LAUNCH. A decommissioned commercial airplane is adorned with colorful lights and design at the Palacio de Memoria in Parañaque City during the partnership launch between