MindanaoToday.com | Case build-up boosts high prosecution rate
By: Uriel Quilinguing
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – The proactive mechanism that the Department of Justice (DOJ) introduced over a year ago that directed its National Prosecution Service (PNS) personnel to work closely with law enforcement agencies has been delivering positive results.
Known as Case Build-Up (CBU) in DOJ Circular No. 20 (DC 20), the mechanism refers to the entire process of investigation and case preparation, including the collection and preservation of evidence, documentation, and identification of suspects to ensure the successful prosecution of the case.
In a livestreamed Kapihan sa Bagong Pilipinas forum on August 27, 2024 here, Regional Prosecutor Merlynn Barola-Uy of PNS Northern Mindanao (Region 10) attributed their 94.15-percent success prosecution rate in 2023 to the CBU process. Their disposition rate that year was 94.74 percent of a case load of 15,009.
These mean that about 750 cases were dismissed by the court.
With these, NPS Region 10 ranked first among 17 NPS regional offices nationwide in 2023, a recognition she achieved in 2019 and 2020.
DC 20 requires “All prosecutors shall take an active role in the investigation of crimes … where they may require, assist or otherwise cooperate with the complainants and/or law enforcement agencies (LEA).”
LEA include the Philippine National Police (PNP), National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), Bureau of Customs (BOC), Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC), Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), Office of the Ombudsman (OMB), Anti-Terrorism Council (ATC), and the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), among others that have the legal authority to enforce laws or investigate the commission of crimes.
Barola-Uy said, “In the past, as prosecutors, we wait for the police to come to us to file a case, only then we say that the evidence is lacking and we dismiss the complaint,” she said. This has changed because they are mandated by DC 20 to work alongside with law enforcers.
She said the PNS Region 10 has been providing law enforcers with assisting prosecutors for the CBU process, collecting evidence and preparation of affidavits. Preliminary investigation is only done once the complaint is ready.
“Unlike before when we just look for probable cause, now it’s prima facie evidence with reasonable certainty of conviction,” she pointed out.
Prima facie evidence, which literally means “at first sight,” is evidence that is not rebutted or contradicted, making it good and sufficient on its face to establish a fact constituting a party’s claim or defense.
Barola-Uy said that 28 of the 32 convictions of persons behind Trafficking in Persons (TIP) and Online Sexual Abuse and Exploitation of Children (OSAEC) reported and documented incidents in Region 10 since July of 2022 were results of the CBU. She also heads the Regional Anti-Trafficking Task Force (RATTF) and the Regional Inter-Agency Committee on Anti-Trafficking-Violence Against Women and Children (RIACAT-VAWC) in Northern Mindanao.
She said that, as of June this year, the RATTF-10 has given one-time financial assistance to 36 victims of TIP.
On Tuesday, September 3, the Justice Sector Coordinating Council (JSCC) is set to launch in this city the first Tri-City Special Justice Zone—Cagayan de Oro, Iligan, and Ozamiz City. JSCC key leaders Chief Justice Alexander Gesmundo, Justice Secretary Crispin Remulla, and Interior and Local Government Secretary Benjamin Abalos Jr. are to attend. (MT)
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