Guevarra, De Lima tussle over 'state witness' definition

MANILA, Philippines — Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra and Sen. Leila De Lima, a former Justice chief herself, on Wednesday sparred over what constitutes a "state witness".

De Lima has sought the Office of the Ombudsman to exact accountability from Guevarra and former Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II over the supposed admission of 13 inmates convicted of “moral turpitude” into the Department of Justice’s Witness Protection Program.

This would have made 13 inmates as state witnesses which is “illegal,” De Lima pointed out in her complaint before the Office of the Ombudsman.

READ: De Lima sues Guevarra, Aguirre over 'illegal' admission of inmates to WPP

Guevarra: Rules of Court defines 'state witness'

But Guevarra said that. to his knowledge, "no convicted person has been used as a state witness under Rule 119 against Sen. De lima."

He cited the Rules of Court in defining a state witness. “If he meets all the requirements under Rule 119 of the Rules of Court, the judge will discharge him from the case upon motion of the prosecutor and he may then testify against the remaining co-accused,” he further explained.

"They are just ordinary witnesses," Guevarra said. He later defined ordinary witnesses as "any other person who is not a party to the case at all."

Section 17 of Rule 119 of the Rules of Court provides that: “When two or more persons are jointly charged with the commission of any offense, upon motion of the prosecution before resting its case, court may direct one or more of the accused to be discharged with their consent so that they may be witnesses for the state when, after requiring the prosecution to present evidence and the sworn statement of each proposed state witness at a hearing in support of the discharge.”

The DOJ panel, led by Senior Assistant State Prosecutor Peter Ong, did not charge the inmates—whose testimonies were used in building up the case—with De Lima before Muntinlupa courts.

In a 52-page joint resolution issued by the DOJ’s prosecution panel in February 2017, the government requested that the illegal drugs cases against Herbert Colanggo, Engelberto Acenas Durano, Vicente Sy, Jojo Baligad and Wu Tuan Yuan alias Peter Co “be dismissed since they will be utilized as prosecution witnesses.”

The named witnesses were cited in De Lima's complaint before the Office of the Ombudsman.

Guevarra added: "What I know is that certain persons were covered under the WPP during the legislative inquiry into the alleged illegal drug trading inside the NBP, upon recommendation of the legislative committee."

"In any event, that was in 2016, and I was not even with the DOJ at that time," he added.

Guevarra took the helm of DOJ in April 2017, after Aguirre's resignation.

De Lima cites Witness Protection Security and Benefit Act

But De Lima, in a statement, chided Guevarra for limiting the definition of a state witness to the rules of court.

She pointed out that Section 10 of Republic Act 6981 or the Witness Protection Security and Benefit Act also provides that: “Any person who has participated in the commission of a crime and desires to be a witness for the State, can apply and if qualified...shall be admitted into the Program.”

“This was the provision used by the DOJ and Guevarra’s predecessor, Vitaliano Aguirre, to turn the convicted Bilibid inmates into state witnesses,” De Lima stressed.

“If they are really just ordinary witnesses, it means they have no immunity, why did the DOJ not charge them when they admitted that they were involved in the Bilibid drug trade?” the senator said in Filipino.

When Guevarra was asked whether the named convicts in De Lima's complaint are admitted to the WPP, he declined to answer, citing the confidential nature of the program.

Guevarra: Inmates as witnesses should not be surprising

Guevarra also said that since the case is specifically about drug trading in the national penitentiary, having inmates as witnesses should not come as a surprise.

But the Justice chief said that he still has to check with the prosecution panel whether any inmate has taken the witness stand at trials in the Muntinlupa courts.

Guevarra however declined to confirm or deny whether the inmates are admitted to the Witness Protection Program. — Kristine Joy Patag