SC orders trial court judges to act swiftly on bail petitions, provisional dismissal of cases

By Rey Panaligan Due to the congestion of jails in the country and the risk of detainees’ infection with coronavirus disease (COVID-19), the Supreme Court (SC) on Monday (April 20) directed all trial court judges to strictly implement the rights of persons charged in criminal cases to post bail and to the speedy trial of their cases. In a circular issued by Court Administrator Jose Midas P. Marquez, the SC directed trial court judges to conduct an inventory of all their pending criminal cases and to determine immediately who among the persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) can be released through bail. PDLs are those who are detained while their cases are ongoing trial or those who are waiting for the decisions on their cases. Also, trial court judges were ordered to release PDLs on their (PDLs’) own recognizance if they have been detained for a period at least equal to the minimum of the penalty for the offense they were charged with. The circular stated that “motions for recognizance and provisional dismissal of cases resulting the release of the PDLs from detention may be considered urgent and must be immediately set for hearing.” It also stated that if the release of the PDLs is warranted, the court orders can be issued online in line with the circular on electronic transmission of court orders, resolutions, and decisions. The circular pointed out that “there is a need to effectively implement existing policies laid down by the Constitution, the laws, and the rules respecting the accused’s right to bail and to speedy trial in the context of decongesting our detention jails and humanizing the conditions of detained persons pending the hearing of their cases.” It stressed that trial court judges must follow strictly the Guidelines for Decongesting Holding Jails by Enforcing the Rights of the Accused Persons to Bail and Speedy Trial issued in 2014. Section 5 of the guidelines states that “an accused who has been detained for a period of at least equal to the minimum of the penalty for the offense charged against him shall be ordered released motu proprio or upon motion and after notice and hearing, on his own recognizance without prejudice to the continuation of the proceedings against him.” On the provisional dismissal of criminal cases, Section 10 of the guidelines, among other things, states that “when the delays are caused by the absence of an essential witness whose whereabouts are unknown and cannot be determined, and therefore are subject to exclusion in determining compliance with the prescribed time limits which caused the trial to exceed 180 days, the court shall provisionally dismiss the action with the express consent of the detained accused.” Earlier, the SC had required the Department of Justice and the Department of the Interior and Local Government and their attached agencies in charge of jail facilities in the country to answer on April 24 the petition of 22 PDLs for their release from detention in view of the COVID-19 pandemic. It was not known if the SC would decide immediately on the petition once the answer is filed.