DEPARTMENT of Justice (DOJ) Secretary Jesus Crispin “Boying” Remulla on Thursday attributed the low conviction rate in criminal cases to a “faulty” justice system.

In a joint press conference with Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Benhur Abalos Jr., Remulla said, “Lately when I was analyzing everything, I was discussing with my fellow lawyers the problem of our justice system. What became very apparent was that law enforcement and prosecution did not seem to work well together, which I raised as a challenge to both of us, to Sec. Abalos and myself, to be able to probably not to reinvent the wheel but to improve the system drastically.”

The heads of DILG and DOJ on Thursday said they are fully cooperating to address issues and concerns that will significantly help the Philippine National Police (PNP) conviction rate, especially regarding cases of Republic Act violation 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.

Remulla has underscored the need to improve the justice system as he lamented the low conviction rate in criminal cases.

“Bakit po natin kailangan gawin ito? The conviction rate right now is less than 25% for cases filed in criminal court. We are not really getting a passing rate. This is not a standard that we can live with. We have to change this drastically,” Remulla said.

“So yan po ang pinag-uusapan namin and looking at how we can improve the justice system to minimize criminality. Ang talagang kailangan is yung certainty of punishment, and when the conviction rate is very low, then the certainty of punishment goes down, then the criminals have a heyday, an easy time with the law,” he continued.

Last month, Remulla bared his plans to help strengthen and make efficient the country’s criminal justice system.

According to Remulla, procedural documents must, wherever possible, be made available to lawyers and the public by reimplementing the National Criminal Justice Information System.

“Reimplement the National Criminal Justice Information System. Lahat ng cases sa courts, NBI (National Bureau of Investigation), Immigration, can be collated into a database na available sa lahat,” Remulla said.

Also, Remulla said that suspects must be brought to trial sooner as he noted the “snail-paced” process involved in investigating, prosecuting, and trying offenders.

“Ang problema diyan ay court postponements. Very regularly, court judges take their time. The Supreme Court and the justices have to work closely on this,” Remulla said.

He also wants to audit the jail system to professionalize operations like installing a centralized database containing information of persons deprived of liberty (PDL) all over the country.

“There must be an audit ng ating detention prisoners. Sana meron silang identity sa lahat ng kulungan para alam natin mga krimen, maraming matagal nang nakakulong, hindi makalabas,” Remulla said.

‘Ensure certainty of punishment’

The two officials said they are partnering to start the retraining of PNP personnel on remedial and substantive law. They include surveillance, effecting the arrest and preserving pieces of evidence, and processing a crime scene.

“All of these have to be restudied and inculcated among our policemen. Every police station must have that skill already, kung hindi puro RFI (Release for Further Investigation) lang tayo,” Sec. Remulla said.

The DOJ chief said they also envision the modern Philippines where prosecutors and the police are always “allies” – not adversaries.

He cited some problems on the Rules of Court which they want to address. “We at the DOJ are part of the executive department, our friends from the judiciary are aware of it. Gusto namin ang piskal at at pulis ay magkakampi palagi. Ngayon, probable cause na dapat ang pinag-uusapan dito,” Remulla said.

The former Cavite lawmaker said they are proposing that where there is probable cause, there should be a reasonable certainty that the person charged will be convicted. “Yun ang gusto naming standard,” he said.

Both Secretaries Abalos and Rermulla said they want to address the government problem of limited resources and lack of prosecutors and highly-trained police investigators this time. By Hector Lawas and Alfred Dalizon