NUPL thanks DOJ for reforms: But more needed to prevent arbitrary detention

MANILA, Philippines — While the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL) thanked the Department of Justice (DOJ) for recently initiated reforms, the group said on Friday that more changes are needed to prevent arbitrary detention of individuals charged with alleged trumped-up cases.

NUPL, in a statement, was referring to DOJ’s Department Circular No. 008, which directed prosecutors handling cases at the level of the Municipal Trial Courts (MTCs), Municipal Trial Courts in Cities (MTCCs), and Metropolitan Trial Courts (MeTCs) to withdraw criminal charges if there is no certainty of conviction.

According to NUPL, this is a welcome development because it would not only help indigent respondents but also declog court records from cases that do not have any assurance of being won.

“The Department of Justice’s recent initiatives are certainly welcome […]  If indigent respondents are able to hurdle the rather tedious process of proving their indigency, these initiatives will help declog court dockets and decongest prisons all over the country. We hope though that this quite limiting threshold of indigency must be amplified to take into full account actual capacity to post bail,” NUPL said.

“However, more far-reaching reforms are needed to address grievous cases of arbitrary detention arising from trumped-up charges of nonbailable crimes, which are being initiated in the following ways,” they added.

NUPL enlisted several supposedly trumped-up cases filed against individuals, usually those from activist groups who are accused of links to the communist armed insurgency:

• Planting of evidence like firearms (ammunitions and explosives) during the service of search warrants or arrest orders
• Fabrication of testimonies by so-called “rebel returnees, perjured informants, and military elements to implicate activists and human rights defenders” in the activities of communist rebels
• Mechanical and arbitrary insertion of the real names of activists and human rights defenders besides aliases and John or Jane Does in criminal information
• Fake preliminary investigations where the respondents were unable to participate because the subpoenas were sent to fictitious, inexistent or incorrect addresses

NUPL said using these procedures is inhumane and hampers the efficient and quick delivery of justice — while contributing to the high density inside jail facilities.

The group cited the case of Reina Mae Nasino, a political prisoner who was arrested during the state-enforced search operations on various non-government organizations’ offices in 2019.

When Nasino was nabbed for illegally possessing firearms and explosives, she did not know she was already one month pregnant. She then gave birth to her daughter River, who was separated from her detained mother.

The court failed to allow Nasino to see River before she died. However, just in December 2022, the court permitted Nasino to post bail as the prosecution could not provide strong evidence against the accused.

“The employment of these methods, to name a few, due to devious political motives has led to the cruel, inhumane and degrading punishment of political detainees in overcrowded jails,” NUPL said.

“The tragic and untimely deaths of infant River Emmanuelle Nasino and peasant leader Joseph Canlas, among many others, are reasons why the misuse and abuse of judicial processes must not be countenanced by the DOJ,” it added.

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