Court must first decide who can be a state witness–Binay

Vice President Jejomar Binay. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — Declaring a person a state witness prior to the approval of the court would be “premature, misleading and not in keeping with the rule of law,”  Vice President Jejomar Binay’s camp said on Monday.

Binay’s camp was apparently referring to Ruby Tuason, who has turned state witness against her co-accused in the plunder case over the P10 billion pork barrel scam.

While he expressed his full support behind the government prosecutors, Binay, through his spokesman Joey Salgado, said “the pursuit of reform must be in accordance with the process required by law.”

“As a lawyer, he (Binay) wishes to emphasize that only the courts can decide who can qualify as a state witness in criminal cases,” Salgado said in a statement.

“There is a process that must be observed. Government prosecutors must first file a motion in court to discharge the would-be state witness from the rest of the accused and for the same person to be declared a state witness.”

The law, the statement said, also requires that for one to qualify as a state witness, he or she should not be the most guilty and the evidence of the prosecution is weak thereby needing the testimony of the would-be state witness.

“Therefore, Vice President Binay feels that any declaration that a person will be a state witness prior to approval of the court would be premature, misleading and not in keeping with the rule of the law,” it further said.

Binay’s statement, Salgado said, was just a reminder for the Department of Justice that there are legal processes that should be followed and that the present administration is committed to the rule of law.

And while saying the involvement of some of his political allies in the “pork” scam was just “incidental,” Binay’s camp reminded Justice Secretary Leila de Lima that the presumption of innocence is enshrined in the Constitution.

“This Constitutional right extends to all, allies and foes alike. This is what the Vice President fought for as a human rights lawyer—along with countless others— during martial law. This is the Vice President’s personal crusade,” said Salgado.

Despite this, the Vice President expressed his “full and unequivocal support” behind the government prosecutors.

“He is fully behind their efforts to bring to justice those responsible for violating our laws. He is confident that our prosecutors will always adhere to the rule of law,” the spokesman said.

“Lastly, the Vice President knows that our government prosecutors have their work cut out for them. They must erase any doubts that Ruby Tuason is qualified to be state witness,” Salgado added.