Senators want more teeth vs perjury; lying witnesses to be detained at Senate’s warehouse

Facade of the Senate building in Pasay City. (Philippine Daily Inquirer file photo)

MANILA,  Philippines —  Resource persons giving false testimonies  before  a Senate inquiry will soon  be put  behind bars immediately —still  under the upper chamber’s custody  but  outside its building in Pasay City.

The new  detention will be  a separate establishment — a warehouse, which will be converted into a detention cell for those  who will be cited  for contempt by senators,  according to Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri.

“We’ve already instructed the secretariat, meron tayong stand-alone building dyan sa baba malapit sa basketball court, pinapalagyan ko ng mga rehas at pinapaayos ko na kasi doon natin ililipat. Hindi na sila sa loob ng building na ito. Ililipat natin dun sa labas, sa isang bodega. Pinapa-reinforce na namin ngayon, ” Zubiri said during Senate’s plenary session on Monday.

(We’ve already instructed the secretariat, we have a stand-alone building there near the basketball court. I’m having bars installed and having it fixed because we’re going to transfer them there. They will not be detained here inside this building. We’ll move them outside, to a warehouse. We’re already reinforcing it.)

“So that’s a fair warning to those  who are cited in contempt and who continue to  abuse  by lying during  (committee hearings)  that when  they will be are cited for contempt, we have a place for them,”  he said. 

At present,  those cited in contempt during  Senate probes are detained  inside its building. 

Some senators, however, are not  happy  at how  existing  laws against perjury `are being taken for granted  in the country. 

Senator Alan Peter Cayetano  cited as  example  the recantation of one of the suspects in the killing of Negros Oriental Governor Roel Degamo and some police officers  who  openly and blatantly lied before a Senate hearing last week. 

“Ang point  ko Mr. President, untenable at untenable at unsustainable na ang perjury  ay hindi pinapansin sa ating bansa, o hindi kinakasuhan,” Cayetano said.

“I’m not saying that yung mga witnesses po ay walang karapatang bumaligtad. Ang point ko anong penalty nila?  So kung nagsisinungaling  sila, dapat kasuhan  sila,” he added.

(I’m not saying that the witnesses have no right to change their statements. My point is, what is their penalty? So if they are lying, they should be charged.)

Zubiri  agreed  there is a need to toughen the laws on  perjury, which according to him  “is becoming a norm now.”

“I think the truth should be ferreted  out and  if they are lying, then they should be liable. They are under oath  and  they will be charged with perjury,” he said.

Senator  Francis  Tolentino, chairman of the Senate committee on justice, echoed the sentiments of his colleagues .

“I think it’s about time  that either we amend our rules to make it more  strict  in so far as   our treatment of witnesses acting with malice  and  malicious intent and lying  in violation of several articles of the Revised Penal Code…” Tolentino said.

Senate   Minority Leader Aquilino  “Koko” Pimentel noted that  increasing the penalty seems to be a “knee-jerk reaction” whenever  a law is  taken for granted.

Before thinking of  imposing heavier penalties,  existing  law must  be enforced  first,  Pimentel stressed.

“Ang problema, the deterrent effect of our  criminal laws has been absent or  taken  for granted by our people. So kung walang nakulong sa six months,  kung gawin mong life yun kung ang feeling  nila wala rin namang makukulong e di ganun din po,” he pointed out.

(The problem is that the deterrent effect of our criminal laws has been absent or taken for granted by our people. So if no one gets imprisoned for six months, even if you make it a life sentence, if they feel that no one will really be incarcerated, then it’s the same thing)

 gsg