Bill seeks stiffer penalties over Congress probe witnesses

MANILA, Philippines—A lawmaker wants stiff penalties against those who prevent witnesses from testifying and for persons who refuse to appear before hearings at the House of Representatives.

House Bill 5817 author Marinduque Representative Lord Allan Jay Velasco said that there was a need to raise the fines for such acts, which were based on 1930 rates under the Revised Penal Code.

To date, the penalty of arresto mayor and obsolete fines meted against persons who restrain witnesses from attending or those who refuse to show up at a congressional inquiry or a Constitutional Commission hearing range from P200 to P1,000.

To Velasco “massive inflation and devaluation our currency has gone through renders the punitive fine component of the RPC negligible.” He proposes an increase from P16,000 to P80,000.

“The bill humbly suggests a new amount, subject to the committee’s discretion, replacing the old ones using a formula utilizing the available data from the National Statistics Coordination Board
relating to Consumer Price Indexes,” Velasco said.

He explained that changing the price of the penalties was important “to uphold the full force and teeth of the penal laws, punishment for offenses and crimes including fines, imprisonment and civil disqualification components must be up to date.”