Kin of carjack-murder victims seek changes in Witness Protection Program

The relatives of two victims of high-profile carjacking with murder incidents went to the Department of Justice on Tuesday to seek amendments to Republic Act 6981 or the Witness Protection, Security and Benefits Act.

 

In a letter addressed to Justice Secretary Leila de Lima, lawyer Oliver Lozano and Arsenio Evangelista, fathers of two carjack with murder victims, and the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC) said they wanted some provisions in the law in light of the killing of Alfred Mendiola.

 

Mendiola, the witness against the Dominguez brothers blamed for the spate of carjacking incidents last year in Metro Manila and neighboring provinces, was found dead, bound and gagged together with two other men in Dasmarinas City in Cavite last Sunday.

 

The Dominguez gang was tagged in the carjack-slays of car dealer Venson Evangelista on January 13, 2011 and that of Emerson Lozano and Lozano's driver Ernani Sencil on January 12, 2011. 

 

"In view of the recent developments... the VACC together with the parents of the victims... would like to recommend the follwing amendments to certain provisions of RA 6981," said VACC founding chairman and president Dante Jimenez. "Nag-propose kami ng amendments sa Witness Protection Program kasi may kakulangan," the elder Lozano stressed.

 

Jimenez said "high-risk" witnesses like Mendiola should not only be provided with a safe house but also with a "24/7 security escort" as long as they are under the Witness Protection Program. 

 

Also, Jimenez said the VACC have in their custody similar "high-risk witnesses" who should likewise be accorded with the same government protection, since they also run the risk of suffering the same "sad incident" that befell Mendiola.

 

On Monday, De Lima said the DOJ was supposed to meet with Mendiola this week to tell him that his inclusion in the WPP would have to be terminated because he had refused to conform with some of the WPP rules.

 

De Lima said the DOJ had earlier heeded Mendiola's request not to be accompanied by security detail provided that he would regularly inform the DOJ of his whereabouts. However, De Lima said Mendiola had been failing to satisfy the DOJ's condition, prompting the government to consider stopping giving him protection.

 

But on Tuesday, Lozano told reporters at the DOJ in Manila that instead of taking an erring state witness out of the WPP, he or she should instead be "restricted but still with elements of due process."

 

"Ang sanction sa breach, hindi dapat termination but control sa witness. Puwede mo i-restrain. In other words, ma-modify ang voluntariness ng WPP," Lozano said.

 

If a state witness insists on goig out without security, his lawyer should first bring the matter up before the judge hearing the case and secure a court order, Lozano suggested. — RSJ, GMA News