Lacson wants to restore PNP subpoena powers

Senator Panfilo Lacson. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO / RICHARD A. REYES

MANILA, Philippines—Sen. Panfilo Lacson has proposed to restore the authority of the Philippine National Police (PNP) to directly issue subpoenas, a move seen to bolster and speed up the investigative capabilities of the police force amid a ramped up anti-crime campaign under the Duterte administration.

Through Senate Bill No. 1052, Lacson sought to amend the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Act of 1990, which placed the PNP under its purview but stripped the police of the power to subpoena individuals and documents in the course of criminal investigations.

Under the proposal, Lacson, a former PNP chief, wants to revise Section 35 (b)(4) of the DILG law so that the director and deputy directors of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) “shall have the power to administer oath upon cases under investigation and to issue subpoena or subpoena duces tecum (documents).”

“Under the present law, the CIU (criminal investigation unit) is mandated to undertake the monitoring, investigation and prosecution of all crimes involving economic sabotage, and other crimes of such magnitude and extent as to indicate their commission by highly-placed or professional criminal syndicates and organizations,” said Lacson.

“Hence, it is somewhat contradicting that the primary investigative unit does not possess the power to issue administrative subpoenas for the conduct of their mandated duties,” he said in his proposal.

The PNP had been granted the authority to issue subpoeanas through the 1969 measure that defined its powers, including the authority to issue subpoenas by the chief and deputy chief of what was then called the criminal investigation service (CIS).

Section 6 of the old law allowed CIS officials “to administer oaths upon cases under investigation and to issue subpoena or subpoenas duces tecum for the appearance at government expenses of any person for investigation or production of documents and other matters therein.”

The 1990 DILG law, however, repealed such authority.

“This bill seeks to correct this oversight by restoring the power to administer oath and to issue subpoena or subpoena duces tecum previously granted to the CIU Director and his/her deputies. It is submitted that these powers are indispensable for the CIU to carry out its mandated investigatory and prosecutory functions,” Lacson said.

He said giving such powers back to the CIDG “will facilitate the efficient and effective discharge of its functions as an investigative unit.”

He noted that other agencies already exercise such power, including the Office of the Ombudsman, the Department of Justice, the National Bureau of Investigation, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, the National Police Commission, the Bureau of Internal Revenue and the inter-agency Cybercrime Investigation Coordination Center. RAM/rga