Crimes in prison need prisoner-witnesses: Guevarra

ABS-CBN News

Former justice secretary Menardo Guevarra defended Thursday the state&#x27;s use of convicted criminals as witnesses in the narcotics charges against ex-senator Leila de Lima, saying the alleged crimes happened inside New Bilibid Prison.Speaking to Teleradyo Serbisyo, Guevarra said he inherited the witnesses in the case against de Lima from his predecessor, Vitaliano Aguirre. &quot;As far as I am concerned, &#x27;yung crime being investigated was a crime na nangyari mismo sa loob ng penitentiary kaya talaga ang magiging testigo doon ay &#x27;yung mga nasa loob mismo, &#x27;yung mga inmates,&quot; he said. &quot;Offhand, bakit madi-disqualify &#x27;yung mismong nakakita? Halimbawa, may nagsaksakan sa loob mismo nang kulungan. E prohibited ba na magtestify ang isang preso na nakita mismo &#x27;yung insidente?&quot; The Court of Appeals has reversed 2 notices issued by the Office of the Ombudsman junking former Senator Leila de Lima’s 2018 complaint against former Justice secretaries Vitaliano Aguirre II and Menardo Guevarra over the use of convicts as witnesses in the drug cases against her. De Lima identified 10 PDLs as having been granted immunity and were given certifications by Aguirre.Four of the 10 — Hans Anton Tan, Engelberto Durano, Nonilo Arile and Rodolfo Magleo — would later express willingness to recant their allegations in the last drug case pending against the former senator.Another PDL, Vicente Sy, died under custody in July 2021. But the Ombudsman, in 2019 and 2020, dismissed both the administrative and criminal complaints, saying there was no proof that the witnesses were enjoying the benefits under the Witness Protection, Security and Benefit Program (WPSBP) as state witnesses with the refusal of the Justice secretary to issue a certification. On appeal, the CA ruled that the Ombudsman committed grave abuse of discretion when it “dismissed the administrative complaint outright based on inapplicable exceptions.”<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="Robbery gang leader Herbert Colanggo testifies before a congressional inquiry on Senator Leila De Lima" s="" alleged="" links="" to="" the="" illegal="" drug="" trade="" in="" New="" Bilibid="" Prison="" Sept.="" ABS-CBN="" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2023/tvpatrol/11/14/20160920-congress-colanggo-rm-1.jpg"/><figcaption>Robbery gang leader Herbert Colanggo testifies before a congressional inquiry on Senator Leila De Lima&#x27;s alleged links to the illegal drug trade in New Bilibid Prison (NBP) Sept. 20, 2016. ABS-CBN News</figcaption></figure></div>

Former justice secretary Menardo Guevarra defended Thursday the state's use of convicted criminals as witnesses in the narcotics charges against ex-senator Leila de Lima, saying the alleged crimes happened inside New Bilibid Prison. 

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Crimes in prison need prisoner-witnesses: Guevarra

Crimes in prison need prisoner-witnesses: Guevarra

ABS-CBN News

Published Nov 30, 2023 03:56 PM PHT

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Updated Nov 30, 2023 04:01 PM PHT

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