MANILA, Philippines — The three lawyers arrested by the Makati police for alleged obstruction of justice need to have a “refresher course” on what they can and cannot do, Malacañang said yesterday.
While some critics claimed the arrest was a violation of human rights, presidential spokesman Harry Roque said the action was justified because lawyers have “absolutely no involvement” in an ongoing police investigation.
Lawyers Lenie Rocha, Jan Vincent Soliven and Romulo Alarcon were arrested last Thursday for allegedly intimidating the policemen searching for illegal drugs in Time, a bar in Makati City.
The police had a warrant to search two vaults in the bar that they failed to open during a raid on the bar, reportedly used as a drug den, on Aug. 10.
“As a law professor, I can assure you, in any police investigation, you can only observe, but certainly, you cannot interfere in an ongoing police investigation. Even on freedom of information, that is one of the recognized exceptions – if there is an ongoing police investigation, the public doesn’t even have the right to information to find out what’s ongoing,” Roque said in a press briefing.
“I’ve only seen one video, but from the video, it’s apparent they need a refresher course on what lawyers can and cannot do. And the legal profession should in fact use this video to tell law students what they can and cannot do in the course of an ongoing police investigation,” he added.
The Commission on Human Rights has assailed the police for arresting the lawyers, saying it showed “utter disrespect not only of the law profession but also of constitutionally enshrined rights.”
Roque said a lawyer’s job starts when there is a pending action in the prosecutor’s office.
Philippine National Police chief Director General Oscar Albayalde yesterday awarded Medals of Merit to 27 police officers who took part in the raid, among them city police chief Senior Superintendent Rogelio Simon. – With Ghio Ong