VZCZCXRO4634
OO RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHHM
DE RUEHML #2120 1760828
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 250828Z JUN 07
FM AMEMBASSY MANILA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 7119
INFO RUEHZS/ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS IMMEDIATE
RHHMUNA/CDRUSPACOM HONOLULU HI IMMEDIATE
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC IMMEDIATE

UNCLAS MANILA 002120 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM PREL RP
SUBJECT: PHILIPPINE JUDICIARY SEEKS BETTER HANDLING OF 
UNLAWFUL KILLING CASES 
 
REF: A. MANILA 1704 
     ¶B. MANILA 1702 
 
¶1.  (SBU)  Philippine Supreme Court Chief Justice Reynato 
Puno has announced plans to convene a "summit" on July 16-17 
primarily to examine ways to ensure more expeditious and 
effective processing of cases of unlawful or extrajudicial 
killings, notably those in which "state agents" may be 
culprits.  Supreme Court Program Director Evelyn 
Toledo-Dumdum explained to Pol/C on June 25 that the "summit" 
will include representatives from the judiciary, Congress, 
and the Administration, especially representatives from the 
Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), Philippine National 
Police (PNP), Department of Interior and Local Government, 
Department of Justice, and Commission on Human Rights.  The 
Chief Justice also plans to invite key leaders of civil 
society and NGOs as well as representatives from the media 
and interested donor Embassies. 
 
¶2.  (SBU)  According to Toledo-Dumdum, the Chief Justice is 
seeking "input to the Court that will be helpful in crafting 
additional procedures to enforce and protect civil and human 
rights" and, as such, has a broader goal than only 
prosecuting unlawful killings.  She underscored, however, 
that potential reforms of the rules of court or rules of 
evidence that the Chief Justice might welcome would 
specifically benefit the handling of these cases in 
particular, but she acknowledged some reforms might require 
legislative action.  Such reforms may include simplified 
procedures for the speedy disposition of cases, issuing 
"protective orders for witnesses" in cases of unlawful 
killings, and holding the AFP in contempt of court if it 
fails to produce -- or at least to report on efforts to 
locate  -- missing individuals about whom a court had issued 
a writ of habeas corpus.  Chief Justice Puno has publicly 
described extrajudicial killings as "an assault on the rule 
of law" and an "indictment of the judicial system." 
 
¶3.  (SBU)  Toledo-Dumdum provided a copy of the March 1 
Supreme Court Administrative Order No. 25-2007 that 
designated specific Regional Trial Courts to "hear, try and 
decide cases involving killings of political activists and 
members of the media."  More significantly, the Order 
mandated continuous trials for cases involving such killings, 
and required that the courts conclude the trials within 60 
days and issue judgments within 30 days thereafter.  The 
Order also specified that "no postponement or continuance 
shall be allowed except for clearly meritorious reasons," and 
warned that "pleadings or motions found to have been filed 
for dilatory purposes shall constitute direct contempt and 
shall be punished accordingly." 
 
¶4.  (SBU)  In a preliminary list of pending cases "regarding 
extra-judicial killings of political ideologists and members 
of the media" dated February 16, Court Administrator 
Christopher Lock identified 33 different ongoing cases, while 
indicating that, in many of cases, the accused remained at 
large.  Despite a requirement under the March 1 Order for 
monthly updates on these cases, the Court Administrator has 
not yet prepared a follow-on to the February 16 report, 
however.  Under the terms of the Order's requirement for 
60-day trials, at least some of these trials may now have 
concluded.  Toledo-Dumdum promised that the Court would 
provide an update within a week and would seek to ensure full 
compliance with the terms of the ambitious Administrative 
Order.  She lamented, however, that the judicial system still 
had a vacancy rate for judges of about 26 pct -- albeit down 
from 33 pct in recent years -- and received less than one 
percent of the national budget for operating expenses. 
 
¶5.  (SBU)  Comment:  The overloaded Philippine judicial 
system -- which the Supreme Court administers nationwide, 
unlike its U.S. counterpart -- remains imperfectly equipped 
to process cases of unlawful killings expeditiously. 
Furthermore, its success in reaching convictions has in the 
past sometimes been due to weak cases prepared by the 
prosecutors.  A proposed new Executive Order mandating 
police/prosecutor cooperation from the outset of a crime, as 
well as the practical training on such cooperation described 
U.S. experts in a recent INL-funded, Embassy-organized 
seminar for Philippine participants (ref a), should help to 
alleviate some but not all of these problems.  The Chief 
Justice's determination to ensure that the courts do a better 
job in handling such cases is welcome, but even his latest 
efforts will take time to implement comprehensively. 
 
Visit Embassy Manila's Classified website: 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eap/manila/index. cfm 
KENNEY