Team work needed for prosecution service, law enforcement to win war vs drug trafficking -- Speaker

By Lilybeth G. Ison

MANILA, Jan. 15 (PNA) -- Amid alarming revelations related to the "Alabang Boys" drug case, Speaker Prospero Nograles on Wednesday said the government's prosecution and law enforcement arm should have a "team work" to ensure the successful prosecution of arrested drug peddlers.

Nograles said that the controversy over the Alabang Boys drug case and other high profile drug cases "should now serve as a wake up call for government prosecutors and law enforcement agencies to work together and not work against each other."

"I think that this is a case of inadequate social engineering skills from both sides. What I want to see is a stronger relationship between our government prosecutors and our law enforcement agencies. They should have team work. This holds the key in ensuring that we can win in this fight against the drug menace," he noted.

Nograles, a lawyer by profession, said that in the case of the prosecution service, government prosecutors should go the extra mile in ensuring that government cases against suspected drug traffickers are airtight and would stand in court.

Instead of dropping cases on the basis of technicalities such as failure to provide an identification cards, the government prosecutors "should go out of their way in building a stronger case against the arrested suspects," he said.

"I even hear government prosecutors who bash our own law enforcement officers who stand as witnesses during trial. They should be reminded that they are lawyering for our law enforcers and not for the defendants," he said.

"They should work together with our law enforcement agencies to strengthen their cases. If, for some reason, our law enforcers have some minor procedural faults in carrying out their duties, our government prosecutors should try to cure these defects first instead of simply dropping their cases," he added.

On the other hand, Nograles said that law enforcement agencies should be more wary about existing legal procedures in carrying out arrests to ensure that they have a strong case against their suspects.

"There must be a legal seminar to teach them how to arrest and what steps to do for buy bust operations so that the evidence obtained will all be admissible in court and not dismissed through technicality because rules were violated. Its one thing to arrest. Its another thing to prosecute where evidence is admitted in the court of law," he said.

At the same time, the Speaker said that calls for the inclusion of Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez as among those who should go on leave in relation to the Alabang Boys drug case controversy is "bereft" of any basis because he never signed the release order of the drug suspects.

"He was never part of the alleged conspiracy to ensure the release of the so-called Alabang Boys," he said.

Meanwhile, the Lower House approved on third and final reading a bill requiring a certification from the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) declaring a child legally available for adoption as a prerequisite for adoption proceedings.

House Bill no. 10 simplifies the adoption proceedings by transferring the resolution of the Declaration of Abandonment cases to the DSWD, changing the nature of the proceeding from judicial to administrative.

Under the present law, the declaration of abandonment is secured by virtue of a judicial order. Though summary in nature, the judicial proceeding takes a substantial amount of time because it is among the least of the priorities in court dockets. This prevents the early placement of neglected, orphaned and abandoned children for adoption.

Under the proposed measure, for an abandoned child to be considered legally available for adoption, the child caring agency or child placing institution having in its custody an abandoned child must file a petition for certification to declare such child legally available for adoption.

The petition, in the form of an affidavit, shall state the circumstances surrounding the abandonment of the child and supported by documents such as the case study made by the DSWD, licensed and accredited child caring agency or child placement agency charged with the custody of the child.

Likewise, the petition shall also show proof that efforts were made to locate the parent(s) or any known relatives, birth certificate/founding certificate and recent photograph of the child.

The petition shall be filed with the DSWD office in the region where the child was found or abandoned. The DSWD regional officer shall then act on the said petition and make his/her recommendations, which shall be transmitted to the Office of the Secretary.

The DSWD Secretary shall review the petition and, after which, issue a certification declaring the child legally available for adoption if such a petition were found to be meritorious.

In case of voluntary commitment as contemplated in Article 154 of Presidential Decree No. 603, the DSWD Secretary shall issue the certification declaring the child legally available for adoption within three months following the filing of the Deed of Voluntary Commitment signed by the parents with the DSWD.

The bill imposes a fine of P100,000 on any person, institution, or agency that shall cause a child's adoption or any form of alternative home placement without the DSWD certification that the child is legally available for adoption.

Authors of the bill are Reps. Jose Carlos Lacson (3rd District, Negros Occidental), Matias Defensor Jr. (3rd District, Quezon City), Raul del Mar (1st District, Cebu City), Monica Prieto-Teodoro (1st District, Tarlac), Bienvenido Abante Jr. (6th District, Manila), and Eufrocino Codilla Sr. (4th District, Leyte). (PNA)