Dear friends,
The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has been informed that a detainee whom we reported previously to have been detained for over two years without charges filed in court has continue to suffer prolonged detention. It was only in October 2005, three years after his arrest and subsequent detention, that he was charged in court. However, after being arraigned, he has never faced trial due to frequent postponements of the court hearings.
UPDATED INFORMATION: (According to information from the Task Force Detainees of the Philippines Mindanao (TFDP))
In our previous appeal (UA-66-2005), we reported that it was the negligence of the prosecutor and his failure to resolve the charges filed against Pegie Boquecosa. For over two years, Alfredo Barcelona Jr., a prosecutor attached with the Office of the Provincial Prosecutor in Alabel, Sarangani, has failed to conclude a resolution as to whether or not there is a probable cause to charge Boquecosa in court.
Boquecosa, who is accused of being a member of an illegal armed group, the New People’s Army (NPA), was arrested on 11 September 2002 for charges of Robbery with Violence, Robbery, Multiple Frustrated Murder and Triple Murder. His continued detention at the Provincial Jail in Sarangani after his arrest, despite the lack of formal charges filed in court, was due to the prosecutor’s repeated request to extend the deadline in the conclusion of his resolution.
Prosecutor Barcelona then claimed he has yet to gather further evidence and to obtain testimonies from other witnesses in resolving the case, which was contrary to the Rules of Court, Rule 112, section 3 (f) that states prosecutors must resolve the complaints within ten days after the preliminary investigation is completed. It must resolve whether or not if charges are to be filed in court.
Barcelona did not resolve the complaint for several months despite the completion of preliminary investigation.
Despite repeated orders from Jovencito Zuno, Chief State Prosecutor of the Department of Justice (DOJ) in Manila, for Barcelona to take immediate action and to resolve Boquecosa’s case, he did not take any action. In May and August 2004, the chief state prosecutor and his assistant have written separate letters respectively to Barcelona ordering him resolve the case, but he remains unable to comply.
The complaint the TFDP-Mindanao filed against Barcelona at the Department of Justice (DoJ), who has oversight over the National Prosecution Service (NPS), was not acted upon either. Instead, Barcelona was transferred to another new assignment.
It was only on 20 September 2005 that the complaint against Boquecosa was resolved before the prosecutor’s level in a joint order. It was in compliance of the 17 August 2005 letter from Raul M. Gonzales, DoJ secretary, directing Prosecutor Ringcar B. Pinote, officer-in-charge (OIC) at the Office of the Provincial Prosecutor, to resolve the case within five days from receipt without further delay. It was not Barcelona but another prosecutor who concluded the resolution.
After resolving the case, on 10 October 2005, four separate cases were filed at the Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 38 in Alabel, Sarangani against Boquecosa. These are criminal case no. 1934-05, for Frustrated Murder; criminal case no. 1935-05 for Frustrated Murder, criminal case no. 1936-05, for Frustrated Murder; and criminal case no. 1937-05, for Robbery with Violence against and/or intimidation of persons. The judge hearing the case is Jaime I. Infante.
On 10 January 2006, Boquecosa was arraigned for the charges filed on him. But since his arraignment he has never faced tried in court due to the frequent postponement of the scheduled hearings.
On 14 March 2006, the hearing was postponed because the judge hearing the case and court personnel were having a seminar. On July 4 of the same year, it was again postponed for lack of time to hear the case due to the absence of the prosecution witness. But on 19 April 2007 and 16 August 2007, despite the presence of the prosecution witness, it was again postponed for lack of time.
On 8 March of this year, the preliminary conference for the case of Frustrated Murder was conducted. In this case, the delay of the trial was due to the arrest of Boquecosa’s co-accused. On August 13 and 27 of this year, the hearings were postponed due to the absence of the prosecution witness once again.
On September 17 of this year, the hearing was again postponed because the Judge and Prosecutor hearing the case had to attend a seminar. The court has scheduled to resume the hearing of the case for 17 November 2008.
SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please write letters to the concerned government agencies below urging them to ensure that Pegie Boquecosa’s case is heard in court without further delay. An inquiry should also be conducted regarding the frequent postponement of the trial, and if it is proven that there have neglected their duties, they should be held to account.
The intervention from the Office of the Court Administrator (OCA), who has oversight regarding the pending cases filed in courts and the manners court judges are dispensing their duties, should also be sought in this case.
The AHRC is also writing to the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers and Working Group on arbitrary detention.
To support this case, please click here: SEND APPEAL LETTER
SAMPLE LETTER
Dear ________,
PHILIPPINES: A man is continuously held for six years without trial
Name of the detainee: Pegie Boquecosa, 27 years old, he is accused of being a member of the New People’s Army (NPA).
Place and date of his arrest: Barangay (village) Colon, Maasim, Sarangani in 11 September 2002. He is presently detained at the Provincial Jail in Alabel in the same province.
Status of the case: The cases are pending before Judge Jaime I. Infante of the Regional Trial Court (RTC), Branch 38 in Alabel, Sarangani. After his arraignment in 10 January 2006, the trial of his case have been repeatedly postponed due to the prosecution witnesses failing to appear in court, seminars of judges, prosecutors and the court personnel, amongst others.
I am writing to express my serious concern of the plight of the detainee, Pegie Boquecosa, who has been held for six years without trial. Boquecosa’s prolonged detention is a result of failure on the part of prosecutors and judges hearing his case.
Firstly, Boquecosa was first arrested on murder charges on 11 September 2002 and subsequently detained at the provincial jail. However, it was only three years after that the complaint of murder was resolved before the prosecutor’s level. It was only in 10 October 2005 also that the prosecutor’s office has concluded and endorsed the filing of charges against him in court.
But even before it was filed in court, Boquecosa has already been needlessly detained without any formal charges. Also, the prosecutor who has failed to resolve his case, Alfredo Barcelona Jr. of the Office of the Provincial Prosecutor (OPP), has not been held to account for his failure and negligence. Even the complaint that was filed against him before the Department of Justice (DoJ), who has oversight over the functioning of the prosecution service, has not been acted upon.
And, in fact, despite the repeated orders and the notices upon Barcelona from the Office of the Chief State Prosecutor to resolve the case in 2004, he failed to do so. Prosecutor Barcelona was instead reassigned to another post leaving the case he was handling unfinished.
The case was resolve at the prosecutor’s level only after the Officer-in-Charge of the Provincial Prosecutor’s Office (PPO), Ringcar B. Pinote, acted on concluding the complaint after having receive a letter from Raul M. Gonzales, DoJ secretary, on 17 August 2005, directing him to resolve the case in five days.
It is disappointing that it took over three years before it was concluded before the prosecutor’s office. And given this previous failure and negligence, the prosecutor’s office once again failed in dispensing duties expected from them. Two years after Boquecosa’s arraignment in court, his case was never tried due to frequent postponements of the scheduled trial.
On 14 March 2006, the hearing was postponed due to absence of the judge hearing his case and the court personnel because they had to attend a seminar during that time. For several occasions, the scheduled hearings has also postponed due to lack of time, the failure of the prosecution witness to appear in court, absence of the hearing judge, amongst others.
The actions the prosecutor’s office and the judge hearing this case are doing are completely unacceptable. The frequent postponement of Boquecosa’s trial, after enduring six years of detention without charges, should have not allowed and it should have not been tolerated. To postpone a trial due to the prosecutor’s failure to ensure that their prosecution witnesses appears in court, for attending seminars and for lack of time to hear the case, cannot be justifiable at all.
The accused persons and detainees suffering needless should have been given relief or remedies to their plight; however, it is extremely disappointing that the failure of the prosecutors and judges of performing their duties, this detainee is the one suffering from it instead of having them held to account.
I trust that you will take immediate action on this case.
Yours sincerely,
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PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTERS TO:
1. Mrs. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo
President
Republic of the Philippines
Malacanang Palace
JP Laurel Street, San Miguel
Manila 1005
PHILIPPINES
Fax: +63 2 736 1010
Tel: +63 2 735 6201 / 564 1451 to 80
E-mail: corres@op.gov.ph
2. Mr. Raul Gonzalez
Secretary
Department of Justice (DoJ)
DOJ Bldg., Padre Faura
1004 Manila
PHILIPPINES
Fax: +63 2 521 1614
E-mail: raulgonzalez_doj@yahoo.com
3. Justice Reynato S. Puno
Chief Justice
Supreme Court of the Philippines
New Supreme Court Building Annex Padre Faura St., Ermita,
1000 Manila
PHILIPPINES
4. Hon. Presbitero Velasco, Jr. Court Administrator 3rd Floor, new Supreme Court of the Philippines
Annex, Padre Faura St., Ermita,
1000 Manila
PHILIPPINES
Email: pio@supremecourt.gov.ph
5. Ms. Leila De Lima
Commissioner
Commission on Human Rights
SAAC Bldg., Commonwealth Avenue
U.P. Complex, Diliman
Quezon City
PHILIPPINES
Fax: +63 2 929 0102
Tel: +63 2 928 5655 / 926 6188
E-mail: chr.delima@yahoo.com or mtm_rodulfo@yahoo.com
Thank you.
Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission (ua@ahrchk.org)
