Kapangalan: A trivial but consequential cause of delay on releases
One seemingly very trivial but consequential cause of delay on releases for detained individuals is a namesake for a pending case--kapangalan. Judges usually state in the Release Orders directed to the Chiefs of the police detention centers or to Wardens of the jail facilities that a person must be immediately released provided there are no outstanding warrants and / or pending cases filed against the person. Parole and Probation Officers may also be instructed by the judges (in terms of probation) or the Board of Pardons and Parole (in terms of parole) to determine whether applicants have pending cases. The names are then checked for entry in the database of the Warrants Section of the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Clearance Section of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).
Looking at jail records, almost 30 percent of the cases turned out positive--may kapangalan. That is, out of 10, 3 are likely going back to the detention center or jail. Anecdotally, this happened to the poor old jeepney driver who already posted bail for violating quarantine rules but cannot be released due to a "pending case." Of the 6 participants in our Community Bail Bond project, two had a delayed release, in which one case, (Nanay Linda) took 5 months before it can be resolved. It translated to 5 more months in detention.
I also remember when I was still in jail, a cellmate of mine had been acquitted in a case after staying in jail for almost 5 years. He and her wife (also a detainee) had given away all their belongings to other detainees-- their clothes, their utensils, and other prized personal possessions. To everyone's surprise and to the couple's dismay, they learned that they have a "pending case" in another city, for which they had to be transferred. They were eventually cleared but that was after a month and after a painful process of re-incarceration in another facility.
This late determination of a namesake is a process that contributes to prolonged pretrial detention. To be cleared of a namesake, the court may take couple of weeks and months. The courts may need to arraign the accused in the "new" case, may ask the complainants to determine that the kapangalan is the true person, or the judge may require the accused to submit an Affidavit of Denial of Identity. This affidavit likewise entails looking for the PAO lawyer assigned in the new court, coordinating with families, and overcoming other non-legal barriers. For the Parole and Probation Officers, simply clearing the individuals in the warrant section of the PNP and Clearance Section of the NBI takes 60 days, which delays the submission of the Post Sentence Investigation Report needed for application in probation, Eventually, this delay contributes to jail crowding and additional costs to the government in terms of food expenses.
Proposed solution:
It does not take a rocket scientist to find solution to this trivial but consequential problem. The solution is simple: instead of running the checks in the PNP Warrant Section and NBI Clearance Section on THE DAY OF RELEASE, the checks must be done the moment the detainees are booked for arrest. For example, a judge may order the police or the jail officers (or even the court staff) to determine if an accused has pending cases in other jurisdictions the moment a case is RAFFLED in their court sala. That way, the judge may consolidate the cases, if the cases are related, or the judge may inform the other courts that the person has been in custody. Concurrent hearings may then be conducted by both judges. The Office of the Court Administrator had initiated a collaborative effort with the PNP and the NBI in the shared use of Electronic Database on Outstanding Warrants. This is indeed welcome news. Thanks to sir Midas Marquez for this wonderful innovation. The next step is to simply switch the procedure at an earlier stage.
As my former cellmate lamented, "bakit ngayong lang ako idadaan sa Warrant Section, 5 years na akong nakakulong, di sana noong bagong commit pa lang ako, para sabay na ang hearing?"
Indeed jail wardens can bring the PDLs to the warrant section of the PNP or Clearance Section of the NBI when the PDLs are newly committed to the jail. A certificate of no Outstanding Warrant and / or No Pending Case can then be put on the PDL file right from the get go. The PDLs can then be immediately released, if and when the cases are disposed (dismissal, acquittal, bailed out, probation, Release on Recognizance, etc).
If this simple innovation is adopted, I estimate that millions of pesos in food budget alone can be saved by the government each year. Each month,the BJMP releases around 10,000 inmates from detention. If 3,000 of these had been delayed for just 10 days due to kapangalan, that translates to 3,000 inmates, times 10 days in extra detention, times 70 pesos for food, which is equal to 2.1 Million pesos per month. That is a very conservative estimate using 10 days.
That is a lot of money to lose simply because of inefficiency and lack of coordination.
Please tag all judges, prosecutors, PAO lawyer, jail officers, police officers, parole and probation officers you personally know so they can consider adopting this simple innovation. That is your taxpayer's money going down the drain.
#Legal&NonLegalBarriers
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