President Rodrigo Duterte's proposal to give free legal assistance to police and military men should depend on what charges they are facing, human rights lawyer Chel Diokno said Thursday.
Diokno, who chairs the Free Legal Assistance Group, said that while all Filipinos should enjoy the right to counsel, public funds should not be used to pay for the legal fees of uniformed personnel charged over allegations of corruption and extrajudicial killings or EJK.
"Dapat ba manggaling sa pera ng bayan yan kung ang kaso nila ay connected sa corruption o connected sa EJK o connected sa iba't ibang katiwalian?" Diokno said in an online forum.
"Kung ang kaso sa kanya ay corruption o pagpapatay, I think it's also fair that they get their own lawyer and that the people should not pay for their lawyer," he added.
In his final State of the Nation Address last Monday, Duterte said it was high time for Congress to pass a law that would provide free legal aid to law enforcers who are facing charges due to their line of duty.
Diokno said the Office of the Solicitor General, the government's top lawyer, is providing legal services to government officials including police and military men facing charges.
"If a government official is charged for performing his duties, talagang ang SolGen, o ang DOJ (Department of Justice) o kung sino man ang maghahawak ng kaso niya. Basically SolGen yan," he said.
Apart from giving free legal aid to uniformed personnel, Duterte also asked Congress to provide a unified system for the retirement pay and pension of newly-enlisted troops.
Duterte also previously raised the salary of uniformed personnel and relied on retired generals to lead the government's response on the COVID-19 pandemic.
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