Zero acquittal of cases vs. Filipinos abroad? 'Unacceptable,' Villanueva says

Senate Majority Leader Joel Villanueva on Tuesday expressed his disappointment to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) over its 2022 report sent to Congress showing that no Filipino facing criminal cases abroad were acquitted.

In the report which Villanueva presented at a Senate hearing, DFA data showed there were 3,863 pending cases against Filipinos abroad, 1,278 cases concluded, and zero acquittal.

Of the 1,278 cases, 883 Filipinos received fixed-term sentence, 63 got life sentence, and 332 have already served their sentence.

Senator Raffy Tulfo, who was presiding over the hearing, asked if this means the government is not doing its job of assisting Filipinos facing charges abroad.

Villanueva backed Tulfo's query and asked the DFA to clarify if the zero acquittal means these were convictions from the courts.

In response,  DFA Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs Eduardo Jose de Vega explained: "Kung di man na-acquit, 'di nabigyan ng maximum penalty. Ibig sabihin din siguro, zero acquittal doesn't mean—baka mali lang ang pagkasulat ano—lahat 'yon nahatulan ng guilty baka pending pa ang mga cases n'on."

But Villanueva pointed out that the figures from the DFA imply that these cases are already resolved with finality.

"It is not my report. That came from DFA. So we wanted to clarify right now. That's why I'm asking the question. I couldn't believe it with my own eyes. Kung acceptable sa akin hindi ko itatanong [itong] 1,278 concluded criminal cases," he said.

Tulfo asked De Vega to provide data on the acquitted cases in the last six months, but the DFA official said he cannot recall the figures.

At this point, De Vega admitted that DFA is not getting a lot of acquittals from foreign courts.

"I was not the undersecretary then. We don't get a lot of acquittals. That's the fact. We don't get a lot of acquittals. Maximum, maybe less than a dozen a year," he said.

He said some Filipinos are also agreeing to settle the case with the other party instead of pushing through with the case.

"Kasi ang nangyayari d'yan, most of the time ang nangyayari... nase-settle, hindi na dumidiretso pa sa kaso," De Vega said.

Still, Villanueva said this is "not acceptable."

"Kung walang naa-acquit e what the hell are we doing here? We don't even evaluate the things that we do," he said.

"Why zero acquittal? May weak evidence gathering ba tayo, 'yung mekanismo ba may problema, talaga bang kulang 'yung legal representation natin don sa mga benepisyaryo from the start of the case, o late ba tayo nakapasok kasi? That's what we wanted to find out," he added.

Tulfo also asked the DFA if they are sending capable defense lawyers to assist the Filipinos who are facing charges abroad.

"Baka 'yung mga pipitsuging abogado ang mga nakuha ninyo hindi 'yung mga dekampanilya [kaya] zero acquittal ang lumilitaw?" he asked.

De Vega did not answer Tulfo's question directly but said the DFA's position is to give legal representation to Filipinos abroad rather than giving nothing.

"Ang position ng DFA, the bottomline is they get legal representation kaysa wala," she said.

This did not sit well with Tulfo and Villanueva.

"Parang sige meron kayo tapos bahala na kayo sa buhay ninyo? Ganon ba 'yon?" a visibly disappointed Villanueva said.

In ending the discussion, Tulfo reminded the DFA to provide legal assistance to all Filipinos who are charged in other countries as this is part of their mandate.

"Kasama 'yon sa mandato ninyo na dapat pag may Filipino in distress, kailangan tulungan at gastusan kaya nga meron tayong legal assistance fund. So wag 'yong 'kaysa wala,'" Tulfo said.

"Then dapat 'yung kukunin nating abogado 'yung magagaling na alam na alam 'yung kaso na ifinile sa ating mga nationals, 'di ba? 'Wag 'yong basta kumuha lang tayo ng abogado, basta't magkaroon ng abogado. Dapat 'yung abogado na  magaling, abogadong de kalibre, na alam 'yung kaso, na kayang ipanalo ang kaso," he added.

In an ambush interview, De Vega clarified that the data in the DFA report they sent to Congress in 2022 only covers January to June of that year.

"Ibig sabihin during that time hindi pa kami naka-receive ng results ng trial [from] January to June mismo. Wala during that time na court decision involving a Filipino. It doesn't mean that there has never been a Filipino that was acquitted," De Vega said.

In the past 10 years, De Vega said he believes there are more than a dozen cases that were acquitted as what he has mentioned during the hearing.

The Senate migrant workers committee on Tuesday tackled Senate Bill 1448 which seeks to expand the use of the legal assistance fund.—AOL, GMA Integrated News