By Christine Fabro
Philippine National Police (PNP) Chief Police Gen. Guillermo Eleazar vowed to conduct a massive information drive for the police after the Supreme Court (SC) issued rules on the use of body-worn cameras in the execution of warrants.
In a Facebook post on Sunday (July 11), Eleazar said the use of body cams will be part of police operational procedures.
“Hindi pa man tuluyang maipatupad ito sa mga susunod na araw dahil sa mga ating ginagawang proseso, nararapat lamang na paghandaan na ng ating PNP and implementasyon nito dahil ito naman ay produkto ng pagtutulungan ng Korte Suprema at PNP,” Eleazar said.
In a 17-page resolution released by the High Court on Friday (July 9), the SC said the trial court shall issue an arrest warrant with an order requiring the use of at least one body-worn camera and an alternative recording device to capture and record the relevant incidents during its execution.
When making an arrest, the officers wearing the body-worn camera or alternative recording devices shall notify the person being arrested and other subjects that the arrest is being recorded.
Under the resolution, it said that failure to observe the requirement of the use of recording devices without reasonable grounds during the execution of the search warrant shall render the evidence obtained nullified for the prosecution of the offense for which the search warrant was applied.
However, the liability for contempt of court shall not apply if the body cameras were not activated due to their malfunction and the law enforcement officers were not aware of the malfunction prior to the incident.
Administrative Matter No. 21-06-08-SC was issued on June 29, which contains the approved rules for the use of body cams that shall cover “all applications, issuances, and executions of arrest and search warrants under the Revised Rules of Criminal Procedure,” as well as “warrantless arrests.” – jlo
