Leave witness protection program where it belongs

If it ain’t broke — why fix it? This is what I feel about a lot of things that happen in our government, and I’m sure that many Filipinos feel the same way. Whether it is digging up streets that were perfectly fine to begin with just to pave them again during campaign season, or it’s fiddling around with laws that were working perfectly well just to say they are doing something, it makes me truly believe that our politicians just have way too much time on their hands.

Indeed, this is how I feel about Deputy Speaker Sergio Apostol’s House Bill 4583, which seeks to amend Republic Act 6981 and transfer the Witness Protection Program to the lower courts instead of the Department of Justice (DOJ). This idea has already received a ton of flak and I can see why. It seems like it’s a bill for the sake of a bill and the logic behind it doesn’t make any sense. It’s just another example of our politicians sitting around thinking of bills they can pass — just to say they are working — that have no real merit or bearing on our lives.

Personally, I think the Witness Protection Program is exactly where it belongs. And I think Justice Secretary Leila de Lima is doing a splendid job in her capacity by doing her role well and responsibly and without kowtowing to the Commission of Appointments, especially to Senator Jinggoy Estrada, just to get appointed to her post in a permanent capacity. The very fact that she would have to do that seems quite sad to me. I’ve written in the past that I believe the CA should be abolished. In the US, the Senate presides over the President’s appointments – as an impartial body to regulate his choices. Here in the Philippines though, both houses of Congress need to approve the President’s nominations to the Cabinet.

In either case, I feel that the bid to transfer Witness Protection program to the lower courts is just unnecessary and an added burden on an already weighed down entity. After all, the courts are full to overflowing with cases that still need to be tried and justice that needs to be served. Why add another facet to their already overflowing work? A facet that they should not be handling in the first place?

I’m glad that Senate President Frank Drilon along with several of his colleagues have shot down this proposal immediately by saying how unnecessary it is and that the Department of Justice should retain control of the program to help them prosecute criminal offenders judiciously and safely. After all, as Drilon mentioned “it is part of the DOJ’s mandate to seek out witnesses and ensure their safety in the aid of the effective disposition of justice.”

That being said, it is the job of the DOJ – as the government’s prosecuting arm – to gather the credible witnesses who have knowledge of crimes committed to testify for a case. It is also their job to ensure that these witnesses are kept safe and out of harm’s way while doing so. These two components go together perfectly so why change them? After all, wouldn’t a witness already have to trust the DOJ to keep them safe before ever agreeing to appear in court? Why transfer them to another department? Wouldn’t that just lead to more people knowing their identities and information in the end?

Justice Secretary Leila de Lima also voiced her concerns against the proposed bill saying she was against the lawmakers’ plans to remove witness protection from the DOJ. She added that the bill’s author made a reckless and sweeping statement when he claimed that the program is tainted by partisan politics. It’s biased and unfair to the Executive Branch. De Lima reiterated that at any given time there are hundreds of people going through the Witness Protection Program in various ongoing criminal cases.

While she agrees that the program needs to be separated and shielded from political influence to be able to maintain the highest level of professionalism and safety, the answer to the system’s problems is not transferring it over to the lower courts. No matter how you slice it there will be some sort of conflict. Apostol maintains that the program should not be executed under the Executive Branch for fear of political interference, but at the same time, how can the courts handle this program when they should remain impartial during trials?

At the end of the day, it seems like an overall unnecessary exercise, which will inevitably just be a waste of time. Again, as I mentioned before, this is not the first bill which makes me wonder what some members of Congress do all day. I think we should leave witness protection program where it belongs. If anything, instead of seeking to transfer the program, we should be looking for ways to help strengthen it instead.

After all, so many witnesses with knowledge about crimes are afraid to come forward for fear of their safety and the safety of their families. These witnesses are essential in securing a conviction for so many guilty criminals that it is important that we are able to fully protect them. If you think about it, if not for witnesses who were brave enough to come forward, so many of the horrendous crimes our country suffers from would have stayed in the shadows and the dark. Crimes like the terrible pork barrel scam may never have seen the light of day if people were not brave enough to step forward and share what they knew. Then criminals like Janet Lim Napoles would continue living luxurious and lavish lifestyles using the people’s money while so many of our countrymen starve on the streets.

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The Chinese have certainly done it again. They already tried using the 9-dash line to claim portions of the Philippines and Vietnam. Now they are making that even bigger and more encompassing with the 10-dash line that all but claims the seas right up to our very shorelines. It’s ridiculous and leads me to wonder what are they thinking? They’ve become so bold and brazen it’s really like a schoolyard bully trying to push everyone else aside and claim that they are the kings of the playground.

It’s sad too because the Philippines and China have always had a good historical relationship dating back before the Spanish ever arrived to colonize our islands. These days though it’s nothing but tense as more and more territorial disputes heat up and tensions rise. The Chinese are really pushing it and not just with us but with our neighboring countries as well. Ridiculous claims like planting their flag everywhere, creating artificial islands, ramming foreign boats, and now territorial claim by drawing would be hilarious if they weren’t so dangerous too.

I hope some type of solution can be reached before things get worse. It seems that the only way for the tension to ease is for it to eventually snap – which we all know would not be favorable to us. I guess at this point, all we can do is wait.