House OKs free legal aid to uniformed personnel bill; opponents warn of benefit to rights violators

The House of Representatives on Monday approved on third and final reading a bill providing free legal aid to police, military, and other uniformed personnel facing service-related charges, raising fears among opposition leaders that it could help security forces accused of human rights violations.

House Bill 6509, which gathered 248 yes votes, three no votes and no abstentions, specifically provides that uniformed personnel of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, the Philippine National Police (PNP), the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP), the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP), and the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) are entitled to free legal assistance in all stages of criminal, civil, or administrative proceedings arising from service-related incidents.

Likewise, the measure strengthens the legal offices of the Armed Forces, PNP, BJMP, BFP and PCG to render adequate and effective free legal assistance to qualified personnel, as well as grants government lawyers representing qualified personnel to payment for actual expenses and honoraria per appearance, as may be authorized.

In addition, the measure allows officers or uniformed personnel of the Armed Forces, PNP, BJMP, BFP or PCG to be provided  with  private  counsel at  the  expense  of  the government when necessary.

The free legal assistance funded by the government will also cover those officers or uniformed personnel of the AFP, PNP, BJMP, BFP or PCG who have pending cases, as well as retired officers or uniformed for cases or charges involving service-related incidents committed while still in active duty.

“By providing free legal assistance under this measure, our military and uniformed personnel who sacrifice their life and limb for the preservation of our national security, public order and public safety will be able to perform their sworn duties without fear of unwarranted  cases filed against them for the purpose of harassment or reprisal,” Speaker Martin Romualdez of Leyte, Yedda Romualdez and Jude Acidre of Tingog party-list and Alexander Marcos of Ilocos Norte, the authors of the bill, said in their explanatory note.

'Supremacy of military, uniformed personnel'

House Minority Leader France Castro of ACT Teachers and Kabataan party-list Representative Raoul Manuel, however, the military and the police's being involved in cases of human rights violations.

“For everything that they do, they will conveniently say it is service-related, even if they are already committing human rights violations. Our Constitution mandates civilian supremacy, but the bills we are passing here, including the doubling of salary of uniformed personnel in 2018, shows the supremacy of the military and uniformed personnel in terms of salary benefits, and now, supremacy in protection from and access to justice,”  Castro said in explaining her no vote on the bill.

Manuel, for his part, made mention of the children killed by the police during their anti-drug war operations during the Duterte administration, such as three-year-old Myca Ulpina and Kian delos Santos, 17.

“These are the kids killed by the police in line of their duty under war on drugs. Hindi masikmura ng kabataan na ang pera ng mamamayan ay mapupunta sa mga pulis na kayang kumitil ng buhay ng inosenteng bata para sa kanilang duty,” Manuel said.

(We cannot stomach that taxpayer money will go towards police officers who have taken the lives of these innocent children.)

“Justice was served to Kian years after his death despite overwhelming evidence. The ones who need free legal assistance are the poor people who are oppressed in the situation because they don’t have the resources to take their uniformed personnel abusers to court. Instead of spending public coffers on violators of human rights, why not spend it on their victims?” Manuel added. — BM, GMA Integrated News