DOJ: Bail available in extradition cases

The constitutionally guaranteed right to bail of every Filipino is available in extradition cases, an official of the Department of Justice (DOJ) told a House hearing yesterday.

Testifying before the committee on justice and foreign relations, Undersecretary Merceditas Gutierrez said under Presidential Decree 1069, known as the Philippine Extradition Law, a judge hearing an extradition case has the discretion to grant or deny bail to a person wanted by a foreign government.

This is the reason why Manila Regional Trial Court Judge Guillermo Purganan had granted bail to Rep. Mark "MJ" Jimenez, who is being sought for extradition by the United States, she said.

However, Gutierrez said in international practice and as a rule, the right to bail is not available in extradition cases.

It is this argument of the DOJ that the Supreme Court gave weight in revoking the bail Purganan gave Jimenez, she added.

Another DOJ official, Prosecutor Claro Flores, agreed with committee members that the Constitution is the highest law of the land and should prevail over an extradition treaty.

During the four-hour hearing, the two committees found out that five Filipinos wanted by the US for various crimes have been languishing in the NBI detention cell for one year to more than five years and the extradition cases against them are still pending.

The panels also discovered that the following:

• Couple Eduardo and Emilia Rodriguez, who are being sought by the US for alleged insurance fraud, have been out on bail.

• The Philippines has so far sought only one American for rape but that no extradition case has been filed against him in the US because the DOJ is still completing the needed documentation.

• Canada, with which the Philippines has an extradition treaty, has refused to turn over Rodolfo Pacificador, the principal suspect in the murder of former Antique Gov. Evelio Javier in the early 80s.

Also during the hearing, Rep. Willie Buyson Villarama (Aksyon Demokratiko, Bulacan) warned the concerned authorities that if the right to bail is not available in extradition cases, overseas Filipino workers could be subjected to abuse and harassment.

"It is not a remote possibility that abusive employers could blackmail our workers by telling them that if they do not submit to their whims and caprices and flee, they would file charges against them and have them arrested by Justice Secretary (Hernando) Perez on the strength of extradition request by their governments," he said.

DOJ officials identified the five Filipinos languishing in the NBI jail, while their extradition cases are being heard, and the charges they have been accused of committing in the US as Asuncion Espina, double murder; Amado Fiel, murder; Nelson Marquez, frustrated murder, Danilo Reyes, sexual molestation; and Wilvert dela Cruz, murder.

Responding to questions from members of the hearing committees, Gutierrez said Espina has been in jail for "more than five years," while the others have been in the NBI cell for "more than one year but less than five years."

"That’s terrible!" Rep. Benasing Macarambon (NPC, Lanao del Sur) protested upon hearing the DOJ official’s testimony.

"We allow them to languish in jail although they are supposed to be presume innocent," he said.

Rep. Prospero Nograles (Lakas, Davao City) said the fact that the five have been in detention for a long period "strengthens the argument that the right to bail should be available in extradition cases."

"It is unfair for these Filipinos to be in jail. Remember that the offenses they are accused of having committed have yet to be proven," he said.

Rep. Jacinto Paras said the sad plight of the five would have gone unnoticed had not congressmen protested the Supreme Court ruling denying Jimenez bail.

In the case of Pacificador, which Villarama brought to the attention of the hearing panels, Gutierrez said Canada has refused to extradite him because its authorities think that the suspect won’t get justice under the Philippine legal system.

"In other words, Canada does not trust our justice system. Canada is more protective of a Filipino there than we are of our own citizens here, including the five in the NBI jail and Mr. Jimenez," observed Nograles.

Another Filipino in Canada wanted by the Philippine government is businessman Dewey Dee, who is alleged to have absconded with billions of pesos in investors’ money and who, Gutierrez testified, has been granted political refugee status by his host country.