Department of Justice (DOJ) Secretary Menardo Guevarra on Monday bared the need to expand the skills of prosecutors under the Administrative Order (AO) 35 Task Force, the inter-agency task force that is mandated to investigate and prosecute cases on extra-legal killings, enforced disappearances, torture, and other violations to life, liberty and security of persons.

“To further strengthen the Task Force, we need to upgrade the investigation skills of our prosecutors who lead the composite teams of investigators for human rights cases,” he said in his speech during the start of the three-day Philippine Human Rights Summit being held at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) in Manila.

The AO 35 Task Force was formed in 2012 pursuant to AO 35 that was issued by then President Benigno Aquino III.

Guevarra said law enforcers are the ones tasked with the investigation of criminal cases, while prosecutors have been trained to conduct preliminary investigation to determine if there is enough evidence to meet the threshold of probable cause in filing cases in courts.

“A different arrangement exists for cases handled by the AO 35 Task Force,” Guevarra said.

“In this arrangement, prosecutors themselves head the investigation of cases,” he added.

Guevarra said this “ensures the objectivity of the investigation process, especially in cases that involve state actors as possible perpetrators.” 

“But prosecutors have been trained to receive, handle, and present evidence from law enforcers,” he admitted.

“If they are to spearhead investigations, they must be trained not only to work with law enforcers; they themselves must know how to gather evidence from crime scenes, and to search for and follow leads,” he said.

Aside from this, Guevarra said prosecutors “must learn how to pursue witnesses.” 

“Securing the cooperation and objectivity of a witness in ordinary criminal cases is already a huge challenge,” he said.

“It is more so in cases handled by the Task Force,” Guevarra said.

The secretary cited that there were instances where “the testimony of witnesses who surface appears polluted, colored by motivations other than the pursuit of the truth,” while, in many other cases “witnesses refuse to cooperate altogether.” 

“It is no wonder that some of our investigations face a blank wall, and not a few cases turn cold,” he lamented.

"To further strengthen the Task Force, we need to upgrade the investigation skills of our prosecutors who lead the composite teams of investigators for human rights cases," he said.

Aside from expanding the skills of its prosecutors, Guevarra said there is also a need for “cultivating linkages between Task Force AO 35 and civil society, and establishing meaningful engagements between them to engender trust and confidence, are important.”