(Eagle News) — Department of the Interior and Local Government officer in charge Eduardo Año assured the public on Thursday that the Philippine National Police will not abuse its newly restored power to subpoena.
In a statement, Año said the DILG “will be on the lookout for any hint of abuse that may be committed by the PNP” in exercising such.
“And we will see to it that this will be used only for the intention that it was granted,” Año said.
According to Año, in the first place, such powers “are not universal for the whole PNP organization,” with only the PNP chief, the PNP Criminal Investigation and Detection Group chief and his deputy authorized to exercise the same under Republic Act No. 10973 recently signed by President Rodrigo Duterte.
Año said the powers to subpoena–which the police first wielded until 1991–were not granted at the precinct level “because the law might have considered that this will be only used in circumstances when witnesses refuse to cooperate with police investigation.”
“Many cases filed with the prosecutor and the courts are dismissed for lack of or weak evidence. The grant of subpoena powers will strengthen the cases filed by the PNP,” Año said, noting that other law enforcement agencies such as the National Bureau of Investigation also have subpoena powers.
Under RA 10973, the selected officials of the PNP can issue subpoenas and subpoenas duces tecum during their investigations.
The CIDG has said that it would only exercise such powers in “sensational” cases.