New law giving subpoena powers to PNP chief, CIDG exec ‘worrisome’ — HRW

MANILA, Philippines — The new law giving power to the country’s top cop to summon witnesses is “worrisome,” a human rights group said, amid unprecedented scrutiny over the police force’s conduct in President Rodrigo Duterte’s deadly drug war.

Duterte signed into law Republic Act 10973, which authorizes the Philippine National Police chief and deputy director of the PNP Criminal Investigation and Detection Group to subpoena witnesses and compel them to testify and produce documents.

Failure to comply with the subpoena shall authorize the filing of a case for indirect contempt in a regional trial court, the fresh law said.

“[It is w]orrisome because it (RA 10973) expands the power of an already abusive police force,” Carlos Conde, Philippines researcher for Human Rights Watch’s Asia division, said in a social media post.

Thousands of suspected drug traffickers have been killed since Duterte unleashed his lethal drug war, with human rights group saying most of the fatalities in the crackdown are extrajudicial killings committed by cops.

But the force has denied executing suspects in cold blood, saying they only killed in self defense.

In a press conference on Saturday, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque assured the public that there are existing laws putting safeguards against abuses of subpoena powers.

“Kung talagang walang dahilan para mag subpoena, pwede naman pong kuwestyunin yan sa pamamagitan po ng certiorari arguing that it is whimsical, capricious,” Roque said.

(If there’s really no reason to send a subpoena, they can question that through a certiorari arguing that it is whimsical, capricious.)

“So yung subpoena powers po, hindi po yan dahilan para sila ay magkaroon ng kapangyarihan na mag-aresto, dahilan lang po yan para magkaroon ng petition for indirect contempt at ang hukuman pa rin po ang magpapataw ng parusa doon sa mga hindi susunod sa mga subpoenas,” he added.

(So the subpoena power won’t give them the authority to arrest. It will just pave the way for the filing of a petition for indirect contempt. The court will then hand down the penalty for failure to comply with the subpoenas.)