Press Release
January 17, 2011

Transcript of Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago's interview

On Charter Change and amending laws on PNP

Itong ating pagpalit ng Saligang Batas ay pangkalahatan. Hindi ito amendment lang ng iilang probisyon, kung hindi revision. Ibig sabihin babasahin ang buong Saligang Batas at papalitan. We can either change it completely or just change certain crucial provisions there. It will cover first, the form of government we have, whether we want to maintain the present unitary system or go to federal system, whether we want to go from presidential to parliamentary system etc..

Pangalawa, ang importante diyan ay hindi lang ang paksang pampulitika kung 'di ang paksang pang-ekonomiya. Shall we allow foreigners to come and own lands in the Philippines or to own majority interests in business corporations in the Philippines? Dahil sa ngayon hindi puwede ang mga ganoon. Ang sinasabi naman ng ibang mga negosyante natin kailangan natin ito para makahikayat ng foreign direct investments sa Pilipinas. Ako naman, bilang chairperson ng committee on Constitutional amendments, noon, I always hesitated to endorse any chacha move dahil as a Constitutional law professor I have always advocated the stability of the Constitution. Hindi puwedeng palit-palit bawat konting taon lang dahil wala na tayong Saligang Batas kung ganoon. Hindi tayo makapanalig sa batas. Pero sa ngayon, sa tingin ko kailangan na talaga. Una, dahil sinabi sa akin ni Gen. Bacalzo ng PNP at ni Gen. Barcena ng PNP Intelligence Group, na hindi ka puwede magpulis kung hindi ka college graduate. Hindi ka puwede magchief of police kung hindi ka abogado o may master's degree. Bakit ang mga members ng Kongreso, pati na ang mga kasali sa Malacañang bakit walang ganoong qualification or ganoong katangian sa ating Saligang Batas? Dapat equal lang. Kung ang pulis kailangan ng college degree, dapat ang candidate for President and Senator, dahil halos magkapareho iyon, dapat may college degree din.

Dapat makinig tayo sa mga dalubhasa. I intend that the first, in a long series, maybe three years, of public hearings on the Constitution, will feature no less, if he will accept, former Chief Justice, Reynato Puno, who, although he is retired from the Supreme Court, said in a recent speech at the UP College of Law, of which he is an alumnus, that he is in favor of charter change.

On recent bad news regarding policemen accused of rape, drug abuse, and kidnapping

Pangkalahatan, napakahirap na problema iyan. Hindi iyan madaling sagutin dahil ang pulis kung kakalabanin niya ang kapwa pulis niya maaaring ang karamihan hindi nasa likod ng pulis na gumawa ng hindi tama.

Tanungin mo si Gen. Bacalzo. Naalala ko when we were all engaged about the Eurogenerals case in the Senate, I was also chair of that committee investigating the matter. I recognized Gen. Bacalzo's name because he was a trial lawyer before me when I was an RTC judge, [and] as one of the whistleblowers in the Eurogenerals case. And he told me this morning that he was ostracized by certain generals for at least two years. Yun ang mangyayari. Kaya ang dapat niyan, mayroon tayong mas maikling paraan na matapos ang kaso laban sa mga pulis. Hindi dapat patagalin mo, kasi maraming dilatory tactics iyan, dahil maghihinagpis ang whistleblower. Kailangan natin proteksyunan ang whistleblower sa pulisya mismo, 'di lamang sa civilian community.

On habitually erring policemen

We have to amend the PNP law to that effect. We should not allow certain dilatory motions because the longer a case stays, the more space and time will be available for the adverse forces, the forces of darkness. Ibig sabihin, ang mga may kasalanan na magmanufacture ng evidence, patayin nila ang ebidensya na hindi na makikita and so on.

Evidence has a bad habit of getting lost the longer that a case takes. Kailangan dito, ang morale ng pulis laging mataas kasi mababa ang morale nila dahil ang mismong mga ibang leaders, nagnanakaw, nagpapayaman. Kaya, ang police naman na on-the-beat na magkano lang naman ang suweldo, he is tempted also to increase his salary because he sees these hotshots or these high-level police officials getting away with impunity in cases of extortion.

On Charter Change

Previous proposals for chacha did not pass because they meant to change the entire Constitution in only a very brief period of time, which is never sufficient for an enterprise of this nature. Sa ngayon maganda kasi, clearly, we can have six years to talk about the matter. The very first threshold question is, is it necessary? We know that it will be very beneficial because any side to a constitutional argument will always result in a benefit to society. But the question there is, is it necessary?

In my case, first, I will group my resource persons. Let's say I will invite Chief Justice first, then all the other former chief justices and justices of the Supreme Court, who are specializing in Constitutional law. Hindi lahat ng justices kasi mahilig sa ganoon. There are others whose expertise are different. First, I'll have the former Supreme Court justices, then the academics. Normally, this would be the incumbent or previous deans of major law schools in the country. Foremost among my resource persons--I hope he will accept--will be Florentino Feliciano, whom I think is the foremost Constitutional analyst in our country, or in fact, in Southeast Asia.

Kailangan kasi, ito, pinagiisipan because we are designing the future. And then I want to give a special place for the young people in our country because they will be the persons most affected by the new Constitution. I will have a specific period to listen to the graduating students of all the major universities of our country.

On the need to increase the salary of policemen and public school teachers

Una kasi dapat diyan, laging mataas ang suweldo, one, of the law enforcement sectors of our society, meaning to say the military and the police, and second, of the public school teachers. Always, we give highest priority to our guardians of our peace and order, and to those who educate the next generation. Kaya kailangan talaga na mataas ang suweldo nila. Hindi sila dapat nasa ilalim ng salary standardization na parepareho lahat. Kasi kami nagrereport kami sa civilian offices namin, walang panganib sa aming buhay, except for certain people, or under certain circumstances. Sila, araw-araw puwedeng mamatay sila, bigla nalang tatawagan ng asawa, "Wala na ang mister mo." Sino ngayon ang magpapalaki ng pamilya nila? Kaya they are carrying out their duties under hardship conditions.

Ang mga public school teachers, napakabigat din ng katungkulan nila--imagine, shaping the character [of young people]. It's very easy to teach people how to learn, you just teach them what is the procedure or the mindset. Pabayaan mo sila, magiging doctor o abogado iyon. Pero teaching them character is a different matter. That's why teachers should also be at the frontline. Kaya itong dalawa dapat laging mataas ang suweldo.

On "standing your ground"

Sabi ng Korte Suprema iyan. When in the right, stand your ground. Ibig sabihin, kapag talagang tingin mo na tama ang ginagawa mo, huwag kang magpatakot doon . When you are threatened with criminal liability by a suspect, huwag kang matakot, e ikaw ang nasa tama. Kaya dapat diyan pagaralan natin ang tinatawag sa batas na anticipatory self-defense.

Everyone has a right of self-defense, lalo na ang mga pulis. If you are simply exercising your right of self-defense, maghihintay ka pa ba na makuha na niya ang baril niya and he's pointing it at you, tsaka ka palang magdedepensa? You should have the right of anticipatory self-defense. You anticipate the attack so you can defend yourself. Otherwise, your right to self-defense become invalid or worthless.

How much is the proposed increase to a policeman's salary?

Gen. Bacalzo: Ang suweldo ngayon ng PO1 ay P12,100 something. Ang SPO4, na pinakamataas, is about P17,000 plus. Ako po ang basic pay ko po is P45,000 a month. Salamat po sa ating senadora para sa suporta kasi mahigpit ang paniniwala ko na ang isangpulis na may sapat na support system, suweldo, baril, equipment, may housing para sa kanyang pamily, may scholarship para sa kanyang mga anak. Siguro po hindi na makakaisip na gumawa ng masama ang isang pulis. At yun naming nagkasala ay dapat talagang parusahan, gaya ng sabi ng ating mahal na senadora.)

(On resolution to be filed, please see press release.

Sen. Santiago: It will depend on the cost of living from year to year kaya dapat may provision na ganoon that we should examine every two years or every three years.

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