DON’T SURRENDER, SERENO TELLS JUDGES
Chief Justice: Arresting officers have to present warrant of arrest first
CJ Sereno also asks President Duterte to allow those judges who were named to continue to carry their licensed firearm for as long as charges are not yet filed against them At least 31 cops, 27 local officials in Duterte’s drug list surrender to PNP chief
CHIEF Justice Maria Lourdes P. Aranal Sereno yesterday advised the judges who were named by President Rodrigo R. Duterte as purportedly involved in illegal drugs not to surrender.
In her four-page letter, the Chief Magistrate advised the judges who were included in the list not to surrender to any police officer without a warrant of arrest.
Sereno said that this was to protect the judges as the protectors of the rights of the citizens under the Constitution.
Sereno also asked President Duterte to allow those judges who were named to continue to carry their licensed firearm for as long as charges are not yet filed against them.
This, as Sereno expressed her apprehension that these judges will also be the “target” of incidents of extra-judicial killings and that they may also become “collateral damage” in the war against illegal drugs.
The Supreme Court (SC) has previously asked the Philippine National Police (PNP) to allow them to carry firearm such that the SC has no sufficient personnel to provide protection to the judges.
Sereno added that although the judiciary appreciates the intention of the President to help in the clean-up of the ranks of the judiciary, the informal report from the President or the members of his Cabinet would be sufficient enough for the SC to take action and conduct an investigation without the need of ordering the judges to report to any office and thereby not impede in their scheduled court activities.
Meanwhile, 31 PNP personnel and 27 local officials named by President Duterte, gave themselves up in Camp Crame.
According to Philippine National Police Chief Ronald dela Rosa, the names of these policemen and local officials came from an initial list that went through a validation workshop by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), PNP, Armed Forces of the Philippines and the intelligence service.
The PNP Chief said those who yielded yesterday will undergo documentation and investigation to validate PNP intelligence on their alleged activities.
The Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) will investigate elected officials, while the Internal Affairs Service and the Directorate for Personnel and Records Management will investigate the PNP personnel.
Asked if the erring police officers and officials would be allowed to go home after the investigation, dela Rosa said it would depend on the results of the PNP investigation and if the CIDG obtains evidence that could become the basis for filing charges against them.