A common malpractice the world over is "police overcharging." This is a practice where police officers use their discretion to charge more serious offenses to make sure the accused languish in jail. For example, an accused is charged with first degree murder instead of manslaughter (or in the Philippine case, homicide). These arrests are then reported as accomplishments, which purportedly boosts the police efficiency in solving serious crimes. It is one of the common tactics that promote aggressive policing. In the Philippines, our research bear this out. Many of the drug arrestees are initially charged with drug pushing (Section 5 of RA 9165) or possessing of shabu of more than 1 gram (Section 11 of RA 9165). This will ensure that the arrestees will be charged with a "non bailable" offense and, given the piece-meal hearing structure of the courts, they will surely languish in jail. Our research finds that drug related detainees usually languish in jail for three years if they undergo the whole trial proceedings. Thus, eventually, many of the drug related detainees plead guilty for a lower offense and they will be convicted but released, either by having their sentence served or through probation supervision. Thus, police overcharging has become an essential dynamic in the arrest, conviction, and punishment of offenders in the Philippines. Most drug cases are plead out, not because suspects are factually guilty, but simply because they wish to be released early. Overcharging creates an opportunity for the justice system to hold the accused hostage-- if they maintain their innocence and go for trial, then they could languish in pretrial detention with no end in sight. They could also be meted a life sentence for a crime that, should they plead guilty, could only land them a punishment of 6 months to 4 years. Thus, from prisoners that were never convicted, they become convicts that were never tried. While the plea bargaining agreement is helpful for those who are factually guilty, it is a very bad deal for those who claim innocence and who wish to exercise their right to a full-blown trial. There are around 8,000 low level first time drug users languishing in BuCor prisons who are serving life sentences for drug offenses, many of whom have co-accused who plead guilty and was given a short punishment of 4 years. The real culprit, however, is police overcharging. While this overzealous practice aims to eradicate crime and promote public safety, it creates a secondary problem that compromises the integrity and efficiency of the entire criminal justice system. Police overcharging leads to court docket congestion and jail overcrowding. It also focuses on low level first time offenders and not on the truly serious offenders. Finally, police overcharging disproportionately affects the poor and the powerless Filipinos, those who do not have the means to challenge the nature of their charges. Proposed solutions include increasing the threshold for filing cases. Recently, the Department of Justice has instructed its prosecutors to strictly review the filing of cases so appropriate charges, not overcharged cases, will be filed. Additionally, the courts may also review the case filed, and they should be able to scale back the cases, in light of the actual evidence. The prosecutors and the judges should serve as a check and balance to the police malpractice. Second, police officers must practice professionalism in the dispensing their sworn duties. There are anecdotal evidence culled from our research suggesting the presence of "overcharging for sale" that is, police officers may threaten suspects with non-bailable offense, if suspects do not pay bribe money, also called "pulis-areglo". These anecdotal evidence may be isolated, yet it is a practice that is all too familiar. The PNP and NBI must continually provide ethical trainings to their officers to remind them of their sworn duties: "to serve and to protect". Police overcharging is a dark practice that undermines the whole Philippine criminal justice system. It is time that this practice comes to light. photo: Miguel De Guzman, Philippine Star This is the first piece.
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