Barbers cites need to revive death penalty to deter crimes

HOUSE OF Representatives Quad Committee (Quadcom) overall chairperson, Rep. Robert Ace Barbers on Friday pushed for the passage of key legislative reforms aimed at dismantling criminal syndicates, holding corrupt officials accountable and restoring peace and order in the country.

Marcos runs after Narco cops

PRESIDENT FERDINAND Marcos Jr. vowed to build a strong case against Philippine National Police (PNP) officials involved in the illegal trade or in cahoots with drug traffickers as he ordered a thorough probe starting with senior officers.

ICC pushes probe on the Philippines’ drug war

IN A June resolution, the International Criminal Court prosecutor Karim Khan asked to resume an investigation into former president Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs, which was deferred in November 2021 at the request of the Philippine government.

Hunt down drug suspects: Duterte

PRESIDENT DUTERTE has ordered authorities to hunt down drug users and narcotics dealers in a renewed campaign three months before he steps down.

Cops accused of killing mayor, aides surrender

NINE COPS accused of killing Calbayog City Mayor Ronaldo Aquino and two of his aides and an innocent civilian in March last year have surrendered to authorities, the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) said.

Washington urged to unmask supporters of CPP-NPA in the U.S.

FILIPINO-AMERICANS in New York staged a lighting rally and urged American authorities to investigate U.S.-based supporters of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and its armed wing, the New People’s Army (NPA) for terrorist financing, recruitment, and other illegal activities.

Duterte, uuwi na ng Davao; depensa kontra ICC paghahandaan

MATAPOS SINDAKIN at pagbantaan ni Pangulong Duterte ang International Criminal Court (ICC) dahil sa patuloy nitong imbestigasyon sa di-umano’y extrajudicial killings sa ilalim ng kasalukuyang administrastyon, paghahandaan na umano nito ngayon ang kanyang depensa.

He scrounged for food as a boy. Now, he hopes to be next president of the Philippines

HE ONCE scavenged through garbage heaps to help feed his family in one of Manila's most distressed slums. But today, Isko Moreno has launched himself on a bid to rule the Philippines.

Go-Duterte tandem, Run Sara Run!

PRESIDENT RODRIGO Duterte who accepted the endorsement of his own political party, the PDP-Laban, for him to run as Vice President in next year’s polls, has chosen his former longtime aide-turned-politician Senator Bong Go to run for President.

PNP, DOJ to probe extrajudicial killings

NATIONAL POLICE Chief, General Guillermo Lorenzo Eleazar has vowed to sincerely cooperate with the Justice Department in investigating extrajudicial killings of drug suspects in the country.

HOT OFF THE PRESS: The Mindanao Examiner Regional Newspaper March 9-15, 2020

HOT OFF THE PRESS: The Mindanao Examiner Regional Newspaper March 9-15, 2020

https://issuu.com/mindanaoexaminernewspaper/docs/mindanaoexaminer372

Duterte to make good his threats to scrap VFA

FILIPINO LEADER Rodrigo Duterte has vowed for the second time to terminate the Visiting Forces Agreement with the United States after Washington cancelled the visa of former Philippine police chief and now Senator Ronald dela Rosa, and forbidden his Cabinet members to go to the United States.

“I am terminating. I was not joking. The day I said it was the day that I decided it should be terminated. Alam mo sabi nila na it’s my — subject to my whim, ‘yung kapritso. No. It started when they mentioned about the resolution in the US Senate. They were trying to figure — trying to figure out who would be the persons who will be barred from entering. Noon pa lang nag — ‘yung utak ko gumagalaw na. Ganun ako eh, hindi naman ako naghihintay,” he told reporters.

120 countries commit to ICC mandate, Duterte trashes membership

THE PRESIDENT of the Assembly of States Parties, O-Gon Kwon (from the Republic of Korea), has expressed regret over the withdrawal of the Philippines from the Rome Statute, the founding treaty of the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Kwon said the Assembly of States Parties, comprising more than 120 members from all regions of the world, is fully committed to the Court's mandate - to help put an end to impunity for the most serious crimes of concern to the international community.

“I sincerely hope that the departure of the Philippines from the Rome Statute is only temporary and that it will re-join the Rome Statute family in the future. Encouraging universal adherence to the Rome Statute is key in strengthening our collective efforts to promote accountability for atrocity crimes and the rule of law,” he said in a statement posted on the ICC website.

Kwon said the ICC relies on the continued support of the international community to ensure its effectiveness in the fight against impunity. The Assembly of States Parties is the management oversight and legislative body of the ICC. It is comprised of representatives of all States that have ratified and acceded to the Rome Statute.

The Philippines’ departure from the ICC on March 17 came in the wake of its preliminary examination into President Rodrigo Duterte’s bloody war on drugs that had killed thousands of suspected drug pushers.

The ICC probe will determine if there is reasonable basis to proceed with an investigation into charges of crimes against humanity.

Since Duterte was elected in 2016, some 12,000 suspected drug users and pushers were killed in police operations or had been executed by motorcycle gunmen. Duterte has publicly said that he intends to kill more drug suspects until he steps down in 2022. (Mindanao Examiner)

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Senate backs creation of court for police abuses

A SENATE COMMITTEE is backing the creation of a special court that will handle cases of abuse involving police officers to reform the Philippine National Police (PNP) and better protect the public.

 

The Senate Committee on Justice and Human Rights, chaired by Senator Richard Gordon, is pushing for Senate Bill No. 1399 or the "Police Court Act of 2017", which is already on second reading. "The objective of the bill is to shine the spotlight of responsibility on the law in the matter of police cases involving violation of constitutional rights, as well as crimes perpetrated by police officers upon the public," Gordon, the bill's author and sponsor, said.

 

Apart from Gordon, the bill was also authored by Senators Panfilo Lacson and Loren Legarda. The bill, Gordon said, will mandate the creation of a special court to be designated as the Police Law Enforcement Court or "Police Court" among existing Regional Trial Courts (RTCs), which will have original exclusive jurisdiction "on all civil and criminal cases involving the abuse of authority of members of the PNP, whether in or off duty."

 

The Police Court will handle cases arising out of violations by a member of the PNP of its operational procedures, rules of engagement and other protocols, as well as complaints for violation of constitutional rights involving police officers. Gordon added that the Police Court would also have original jurisdiction on cases involving the writ of habeas corpus "when there is evidence that the victim is held under the custody of any of the members of the PNP."

 

The bill will also mandate the creation of an "Appellate Police Court" among the divisions of the Court of Appeals (CA) that will tackle appeals coming from the Police Court. Under the bill, he said the Supreme Court will provide periodic and continuous program for training "so that they would be familiar with police procedures in terms of rules of engagement."

 

Gordon said the reforms under Senate Bill 1399 are meant to provide an impartial and speedy disposition of complaints for violations of constitutional rights and PNP rules and procedures, "free from the 'kabaro' (colleague) system."

 

He said much is to be desired in the pace of prosecuting abusive police officers, noting the performance of the PNP Internal Affairs Service (IAS), the body authorized to conduct investigations and hearings on PNP members facing administrative charges.

 

As of August 2016, the IAS has reported only 839 pending cases, while the National Police Commission data from 2010 to 2015 showed 1,255 cases pending against nearly 4,000 police officers, Gordon said. "It takes years for a simple administrative matter to put a policeman under the heel of discipline," he pointed out. The bill, he added, is also a "cogent involvement and intervention by the legislature on the issues of extrajudicial killings, salvaging and riding-in-tandem crime."

 

"The police must be expected to perform their duties vigorously but, in so doing, they have no license to use overwhelming force or eliminate criminals acting as judge, jury and executioner. There are no shortcuts, and the police force must follow the rules of engagement and the rule of law in their operations against illegal drugs and other criminal activities," Gordon said.

 

 

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