CHIEF Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno. RAFFY LERMA/INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
CHIEF Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno on Thursday cited the lack of government lawyers and non-appearance of witnesses as some of the factors that led to the dismissal of drug-related cases in courts.
“Many drug cases are delayed or dismissed by the following reasons: the absence of police witnesses, the death of public prosecutors and public attorneys and the weak evidence of the prosecution in relation to the rules on chain of custody and inventory of seized drugs and paraphernalia,” Sereno lamented during her annual CJ Meets the Press forum.
Sereno said the DOJ has filed cases left and right but there is not enough prosecutors to handle them. She said she learned from Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II that the DOJ has vacancies for around 500 prosecutors.
She said she has already shared her observation with the Department of Justice (DOJ), the National Prosecution Service (NPS), Public Attorneys Offices (PAO), the Department of the Interior ad Local Government (DILG), Philippine National Police (PNP) and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).
“There has to be a continuous trial [to expedite the procedure],” Sereno said.
To fast track the proceedings, she said there has to be two prosecutors and two public attorneys for every judge.
On the other hand, she said she is hoping that the reforms being introduced by the Supreme Court would lead to a quick resolution of illegal drugs cases.
The high court chief recently added 240 more courts to handle the increasing number of drug-related cases./rga
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