Pubdate: Tue, 08 Jul 2003 Source: Sunstar Davao (Philippines) Copyright: 2003 Sunstar Contact: http://www.sunstar.com.ph/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1991 Note: also listed for feedback Author: Raquel C. Bagnol RP CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM NOT HARSH ON DRUG VIOLATORS REGIONAL Trial Court Branch 9 Judge Adoracion Avisado on Monday said the criminal justice system of the Philippines is not harsh in dealing with drug violators. This is the reason why the drugs continue to be a menace in the society. In an interview, Avisado cited the need for the government to make a thorough review of the criminal justice system in order to put a stop to the proliferation of the illegal drug trade in the country. A policeman needs to secure an arrest warrant from the court before he can arrest a person who violated the law, Adoracion said. Arresting officers, she added, have a limited number of hours to detain arrested persons. "With the limited time, police are allowed to hold prisoners, policemen will have weak pieces of evidence forcing the city prosecution office to dismiss their drug cases," Avisado said. "Based on the law, arresting officers are only given 48 hours to detain prisoners otherwise they will be sued for arbitrary detention," she said. Avisado added that in Japan, 99.5 percent of criminal cases filed resulted to the indictment of the accused persons. Avisado also stressed the need to improve the value system of Filipinos aside from reforming our criminal justice system. "The parents should not neglect their children, and the government on its side should also solve the problems of society, like poverty," she said. Assistant city prosecutor Danilo Belo echoed the same sentiment. He saw the need to review our criminal justice system. Belo cited as example that in the United States, a person who is arrested for a crime can lead investigators to his other companions which would eventually solve the problem while in the Philippines, an extra-judicial confession of a prisoner without a counsel won't be honored in court, no matter how factual and important that confession is. - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Stevens