SEVEN convicted drug personalities serving sentence at the Sablayan penal colony have written Judge Gener Gito of Muntinlupa to say that they are recanting their statements against former senator Leila de Lima.
German Agojo, Tomas Donina, Jaime Patcho, Wu Tuan Yuan (alias Peter Co), Engelberto Durano, Jerry Pepino, and Hans Anton Tan said that their participation as witnesses against de Lima was “vitiated by undue compulsion and influence,” making their previous statements void for “lack of consent.”
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The same letter carried a request for transfer from Sablayan, a penal colony in the middle of Mindoro Occidental.
It is difficult for relatives, friends, even lawyers and journalists to access the colony. It entails a two-and-a-half hour RORO cruise from Batangas Port to Abra de Ilog, and three more hours of land travel to the town of Sablayan.
According to the prisoners, the request for transfer is for their “safety and security, and that of our families who also face the same risks when they pay us a visit at the said penal colony.”
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It is undoubtedly more convenient for all the parties in the still ongoing trial against de Lima, et al to transfer the prisoners to the National Bilibid Prisons in Muntinlupa in the meantime that their recantations are being heard in court.
The testimonies, if admitted and accepted to be credible by the court, can lead to the dismissal of the remaining criminal charge against de Lima.
Government prosecutors did not oppose the motion but moved for the transfer of four other prisoners – Nonilo Arile, Herbert Colango, Joel Capones, and Noel Martinez.
Arile himself had earlier signified his plan to recant his testimony against the former senator.
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Last December 13, the trial court judge granted the motions of the prosecution and the defense and issued an order directing the transfer of the prisoners to the NBP.
A week later, the Department of Justice raised security concerns over the transfer order, but injected a strange position: “recanting is viewed unfavorably by the legal system, as it raises questions about the credibility and reliability of witness testimonies. Rewarding PDLs for their recantations will set a dangerous precedent.”
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Strange because the DOJ through its trial prosecutors have already taken a stand before the Muntinlupa court. As mentioned, not only did they not oppose the transfer, they added four more names to the list submitted by de Lima’s lawyers.
Also, when is transfer from one prison cell to another a “reward?” The witnesses will continue to be deprived of liberty as they serve their sentences – only that it is going to be served in a different facility in the meantime.
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The DOJ is evaluating testimony before it is given. That is the exclusive function of the trial court.
Courts are allowed to examine the circumstances behind each change of heart.
“All expedients devised by man to determine the credibility of witnesses should be utilized to determine which of the contradictory testimonies represents the truth.”
Why is access to these prison witnesses being stymied by the DOJ at this late hour?
Will those who procured the allegedly perjurious testimonies during the Duterte presidency be identified in the recantations?/PN
