Another weak case

Published by the Visayan Daily Star Publications, Inc.

NINFA R. LEONARDIA Editor-in-Chief & President

CARLA P. GOMEZ Editor GUILLERMO TEJIDA III Desk Editor NANETTE L. GUADALQUIVER Busines Editor CEDELF P. TUPAS Sports Editor (On Leave) RENE GENOVE Bureau Chief, Dumaguete MAJA P. DELY Advertising Coordinator

CARLOS ANTONIO L. LEONARDIA Administrative Officer

In a not so surprising twist in the investigation of the Batasan Blast that killed Basilan Rep. Wahab Akbar, former Basilan town mayor Hajarun Jamiri and two of his co-accused have blamed the police of torture and recanted their statements in which they linked Anak Mindanao party list Rep. Mujuv Hataman and his brother Jim to the Nov. 13 bombing.

The ease with which people that have been held under the custody of the police or military in this country can accuse their captors of using torture to extract confessions speaks volumes of the severity of the damage to the reputation and integrity of our law enforcement officials. If the policemen handling the investigation and the suspects had religiously followed all the necessary rules and procedures, suspects under the custody of the police wouldn't find it so easy to accuse them of torture and then recant their statements.

In the absence of solid forensic evidence, which can be blamed on the inadequacy of modern equipment and shoddy police work, investigations in this country have been dependent on the fallible and retractable testimonies of witnesses and confessions of suspects. An airtight case that is based on physical evidence that can neither lie nor contradict itself is the exception rather than the rule when it comes to the handling of criminal cases in this country, and is probably one of the reasons why justice is often delayed, derailed, and ultimately denied.

Our policemen and investigative bodies must upgrade their knowledgebase and technical capacity to allow them to efficiently process crime scenes, witnesses, and suspects according to procedures that are foolproof and unquestionable. This will minimize the possibility of technicalities allowing the guilty to walk free, or conversely, condemning innocent men and women to a life inside the notoriously poor conditions of a Filipino jail because of haste and sloppy police work.*