Former DDB official reiterates guidelines on transfer of witness cops

TACLOBAN CITY, Aug. 5 (PNA) -- A former top official of the Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB) reminded the Philippine National Police (PNP) on the guidelines of transferring policemen who stand as witnesses in drug-related cases.

Lawyer Clarence Paul Oaminal, former DDB vice chairman said the reassignment of police witnesses is one of the reasons why many drug-related cases have been dismissed.

“Notwithstanding the arrest of violators, the effort to address drug-related problems proved futile because of the low percentage of convictions caused primarily by the non-appearance of police witnesses as a result of their transfer or reassignment to other police regional offices or areas of responsibility,” Oaminal explained, citing DDB Regulation No. 6 issued in 2008.

The lawyer lamented that the transfer of police witnesses to another province or region oftentimes led to the dismissal of the case.

He reminded top police officials that the guidelines prohibit prosecution witnesses from being transferred or re-assigned to another unit or place of work “outside of his or her present territorial jurisdiction except for compelling reasons.”

If the transfer of police witnesses is unavoidable, the immediate superior should inform the court and the prosecutor handling the case of the re-assignment order within 24 hours from its approval.

Oaminal clarified that any violation of a DDB Regulation shall be subject to administrative sanctions as well as the penal provisions under Section 32 of Republic Act 9165.

The lawyer admitted that this DDB regulation has been “ignored" either consciously or unconsciously not only by the police but also by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA).

Senior commissioned police officers like those holding the rank of superintendents and above may have the means of relocating themselves to other regions, but what concerns Oaminal is the plight of the junior police non-commissioned officers.

Oaminal is the author of the Textbook on the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002 cited twice by the Supreme Court in drug cases. He was vice chairman and undersecretary of the Dangerous Drugs Board from 2008 to 2010. Prior to that, he served as legal consultant of PDEA Region 7 from 2002 to 2008.

The lawyer was awarded as the Most Outstanding Instructor of the year by the Police National Training Institute; he has been teaching since 1999. (PNA)
PGL/SQM/LIZBETH ANN A. ABELLA/EGR