REACTION PAPER ON AN ACT STRENGTHENING THE WITNESS PROTECTION, SECURITY AND BENEFIT PROGRAM, AMENDING FOR THE PURPOSE

REPUBLIC ACT NO. 6981 OTHERWISE KNOWN AS THE WITNESS PROTECTION, SECURITY AND BENEFIT ACT A. Summary This Act is one of the 23 priority bills of President Benigno Aquino III presented during the first Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC) meeting on February 28, 2011. The primary purpose in the enactment of Republic Act No. 6981 otherwise known as the Witness Protection, Security and Benefit Act is to encourage individuals who have witnessed or have personal knowledge of the commission of a crime to come out and testify before a court, a quasi-judicial body, or an investigating authority, by providing them and their families protection and economic support from the possible retaliation of those affected by their testimonies. However, with the implementation of the Witness Protection Program created by this Act, lawmakers came to realize that the program was not sufficient to meet the needs of these witnesses. Senator Francis Escudero admitted that the most that the Senate can provide to their witness is temporary shelter and protection while the investigation is on-going. Rep. Roilo Golez, moreover, cited that the admittance of some witnesses in the Kuratong Baleleng incident, among others, into the Witness Protection Program enunciated under this Act has given rise to some problems in implementation arising from circumstances not provided by the law. Thus, the legislative department proposed for amendments of this act in order to address such problems both in the Senate and in the House of Representatives which are still pending and hopefully will pass into law with the inclusion of President Aquino in his priority bills. Senate Bill No. 2368, introduced by Senator Francis Escudero seeks to provide for a separate witness protection program for the witnesses and resource persons of the Senate and the Congress in their inquiries and investigations which is independent from any other department, bureau, office or any other executive agency in cases when investigation might be prejudiced and/or when the safety of the witness might be jeopardized especially when the public officials are involved, amending Section 4 of RA 6981. This bill entitles witnesses admitted into the program to hospitalization benefits while in the safe house and free education for minor or dependent children from primary to college level in any state, or private school, college or university, as long as they qualify thereto, amending Section 8 of this Act. A provision for the perpetuation of testimonies of witnesses in consonance with Rule 134 of the Revised Rules of Court is also inserted in Section 12 of the Act.

House Bill No. 00015, introduced by Rep. Roilo Golez also proposes to amend RA 6981 entitling witnesses admitted into the program to hospitalization benefits while in the safe house, and free public education for minor or dependent children because presently, free hospitalization is provided only for injuries and illnesses incurred or suffered by the witnesses because of witness duty and dependent children of witnesses can only avail of free education in case of death or permanent incapacity of the witnesses. It also seeks a clear and explicit provision for the perpetuation of testimonies of witnesses in consonance with Rule 134 of the Revised Rules of Court.

B. Critique House Bill No. 00015 and Senate Bill No. 2368 are both brilliant proposals to amend Republic Act No. 6981 because their amendments are practical and relevant for the strengthening of the Witness Protection, Security and Benefit Program of the government. Senator Francis Escudero, in his explanatory note on the Senate Bill No. 2368 is emphatic in seeking to provide for a separate witness protection program for witnesses and resource persons by citing the problems encountered by witnesses with their voluntary appearance in the Senate inquiries and investigations. Furthermore, Senator Escudero, in amending Section 8 (g) of RA 6981 which reads as In case of death or permanent incapacity, his minor or dependent children shall be entitled to free education, from primary to college level in any state, or private school, college or university as may be determined by the Department, as long as they shall have qualified thereto clearly grants the full enjoyment of the witness dependent children to a free education from primary to college by omitting the conditions: a) in case of death or permanent incapacity of the witness and b) as may be determined by the Department. This would probably encourage witnesses to testify despite of the difficulties it may bring. While in House Bill No. 00015, Rep. Roilo Golez, however, is more practical in amending Section 8 (g) of RA 6981 by making free education available to the minor or dependent children of the witness but limiting such grant in the public educational system only due primarily to the limited funds the State has to afford assuming expenditures from private schools. Nevertheless, there is no provision in either of proposed bills that which clearly provides for the conduct of physical, medical and psychological examination of potential witnesses. Witnesses admitted into the program have been lost by the program because their needs were not provided due to absence of previous medical examination. It is a must that those administering the Program be informed of the physical condition of the witnesses so that precautionary measures can be taken to safeguard their health. It is also important that psychological examination will be conducted to identify those unstable witnesses and the Program can institute remedial measures or decide not to admit these kinds of witnesses because being under the Program exerts emotional and psychological pressure which unstable witnesses cannot bear that will lead them to recant or change their testimonies or outright refuse to testify later.

Amendments must also include a provision on interim protection for witnesses because many witnesses had been killed before they were admitted in the program and thus prevented cases from being filed in court or causing cases to be dismissed due to lack of witnesses. Moreover, provisions concerning breaches of confidentiality shall also be included because the law provides for punishments for government employees who breach data confidentiality concerning the identity of the witnesses before they are admitted in the program but it does not have any provisions concerning sanctions against persons who are not part of the government and who put witnesses at risk by exposing their identities. Thus, many witnesses were murdered before they could testify and these incidents can be attributed to the failure to protect identity of the witnesses and illustrate the lack of accountability in preserving confidential information. If both bills will be incorporated and the contradicting provision on free education will be resolved as to which is more realistic and practical, as well as those mentioned above will be included, we can come up with a more responsive and comprehensive act for a strong and useful Witness Protection, Security and Benefit Program and therefore, will lead us into freedom and justice.

C. Reaction: I greatly appreciated President Aquino for including in his priority bills the proposed amendment to the existing Witness Protection, Security and Benefit Act (RA 6981) which is still pending in the two houses of Congress, the Philippine Senate and the House of Representatives because I also deeply felt that urgent need for passing of effective reforms to our existing law in order to give justice to the victims and improve our countrys conviction rate. I really admired Senator Francis Escudero for proposing amendment to Section 4 of RA 6981. Congress should have a witness protection program independent from the Department of Justice which at present has the absolute control over the program because it cannot be avoided that people will doubt the integrity of the department in implementing the program especially on highly political cases involving high-ranking government officials since the DoJ, being under the control and supervision of the executive branch of government lacks the independence and credibility to effectively protect witnesses testifying against government officials or members of the security forces accused of perpetrating crimes. I am very disappointed to our elected senators and representatives for not acting on the amendment of RA 6981 despite the occurrence of numerous incidents which concretely showed the lapses of our present witness protection program such as the summary killings of media men and witnesses of massacres, particularly the Maguindanao massacre before they could be admitted into the program.

I will be delighted if this amendment of RA 6981 will be enacted into law and I do hope that the congress will formulate a program that will really ensure its full implementation and will encourage witnesses into coming forward to improve our poor conviction rate and to minimize crime incidents in our country.

D. Application: As a police officer and designated as an investigator, I have experienced many situations wherein witnesses were reluctant to testify because of fear for the safety of their lives and those of their families. No matter how we tried to convince them and assured them of their safety and told them that our government has a witness protection program under RA 6981 that will provide for their needs, still of no avail. There were many crimes which remained unsolved because of the absence of witnesses who did not bother to tell what they personally saw for fear of retaliation from the culprits. I cannot blame our people for their lack of cooperation and negative sentiments on our present witness protection program because I even am doubtful of its commitment in providing the needs of the witnesses who will be admitted into the program. Besides the fact that it seems very hard to be able to be accepted into the program, I learned that the support or benefits for the witnesses and their families are very limited and that there is no support system for recreation and self-development for witnesses so that they become productive while under the protection and security of the program and that those who suffer from trauma do not have no chance to receive professional support or treatment from competent psychologist and psychiatrist. Based on the experienced of those admitted into the program, being in there is like a guarded prisoner. These are sad realities on our present program that lawmakers should not ignore. Yes, we in the police force are tasked to encourage witnesses to come forward, and to take prompt or effective actions to protect them and that it is our responsibility to give protection to any person that is being threatened, even if the person is not a witness. We are doing our best to perform and carry out our responsibilities. However, there is a big difference if witnesses will be under a witness protection program that will exclusively give them protection and security that we in the police can hardly provide because of limited resources. Under the law, we, policemen and military are not qualified to be admitted under the program. But what if we are to testify against our superiors who have power and authority over our promotions, assignments and other aspects, it is simply impossible for us to come forward and testify without protection. Lawmakers should also consider our situation, would realize our needs and hopefully will include us in the program.