House Quad-Comm studying imposition of stiffer penalties for witnesses who recant their statements

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Transcript

00:00Bearing false witness against thy neighbor is a sin included in the ultimate list of things one should never do.

00:07Yet there are many who nonchalantly violate this commandment and eventually recant their earlier claims,

00:13which is something lawmakers want corrected and penalized more seriously.

00:18Noel Talacay has more.

00:22The House Squad Committee is now studying the imposition of stiffer penalties

00:27for witnesses who withdraw or walk back their statements made under oath in congressional inquiries.

00:33This was proposed by the 2nd District Surigao del Norte

00:36representative and chairman of the House Committee on Dangerous Drugs,

00:40Representative Robert Ace Barbers, at a press conference in Manila.

00:57There are many who violate this commandment and eventually recant their earlier claims.

01:02He also said that they might consult the Supreme Court on determination of the appropriate penalty for lawyers of a witness

01:10who recants a previous testimony in congressional inquiry.

01:14He stressed these lawyers concede and create or draft the affidavit of sworn statements of the witnesses.

01:21Maybe we can ask for suggestions or recommendations from our friends in the Supreme Court.

01:28There should be a law that suspends the licenses of lawyers or disbar them from professional practice, Barbers added.

01:36In the future, we can call the lawyer.

01:40You are the witness there. You are the one who went there.

01:45You are the one who made his testimony.

01:48But now, he is making up for it. So you have an obligation to make up for it.

01:53Recently, self-confessed drug lord Kirwin Espinosa withdrew his statement against former Senator Laila de Lima,

02:00claiming she was involved in the operation of illegal drugs in the country.

02:05This followed Espinosa's appearance as a witness in the House Squad Committee

02:09hearing on extrajudicial killings during the previous administration.

02:14Barbers proudly stated that all witnesses in the House Squad Committee volunteered themselves,

02:20with many still wishing to join. However, not everyone can be accepted as a witness.

02:26We will have to weigh it, evaluate it, and it has to have some corroborative witness or documentary evidence to support the statement.

02:38If there is no evidence, we will not believe it.

02:42He also defended their witnesses who are convicted persons like Andy Magdadaro and Leopoldo Tan.

02:48According to Barbers, there is no law to prevent them from taking the witness stand.

02:54They still have the right to do so.

02:56But it is up to the investigators whether they will give weight to what they are saying.

03:04Because it will still decrease your appreciation for testimonial evidence or documentary evidence.

03:13Barbers is one of the co-chairs of the House Squad Committee proving the illegal operation of pogos,

03:19illegal drugs, and extrajudicial killings in the previous administration.

03:23Noel Palacay from the National TV Network, for New and Better Philippines.

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