SC CIRCULAR NO. 33-96, April 24, 1996

For the information and guidance, of all concerned, quoted
hereunder are the pertinent provisions of the Joint Memorandum Circular
of the Supreme Court, the Department of Justice and the Department of
the Interior and Local Government on the guidelines on police witnesses
and arrest of accused who jumped bail, to wit:

Section.1. – The Supreme -Court, through ,the Office, of the Court Administrator, shall:

A. Require all Clerks of Court that:

(1) In the preparation of the notice hearing/subpoena, copies
of the same shall not only be sent to the office and residence addresses
of the police witness concerned but also to his/her commanding
officer’s or- immediate-., superior officer’s address;

(2) In case several police witnesses are summoned to ;i
t tend a scheduled hearing, all of them shall be furnished individually
of copies of the notice of hearing/subpoena;

(3) In all cases, notice of the hearing/, subpoena shall be
sent at least thirty (30) days prior to the scheduled hearing, to the
police witness and his/her commanding officer or immediate superior
officer;

(4) In issuing pictures available the warrants of arrest, the of
the accused, whenever or feasible, or a summary of the physical
description of the accused, must be appended to the warrants before the
same are transmitted to the law enforcement agencies for service; and

(5) Companies or until us engaged in the business of bailing out
accused persons shall maintain a personal data file of all their
clients, who jumped bail, data available. to particularly those/ and
make these law enforcement operatives once their arrest. a warrant is
issued for their arrest.

B. Remind and advise all Judges:

(1) To give preference in time to the testimony of the police witness than other witnesses;

(2) To avoid unnecessary postponements of hearing, especially
when the police witness present comes from a far-flung police unit or
station;

(3) Not to be too lenient or liberal in accepting the
explanation of police witnesses who fail to attend scheduled hearings
despite due notice to them;

(4) To impose the maximum penalty to police witnesses and their
superiors when warranted, if the explanations of the offending witness
should be found unsatisfactory; and

(5) To inform the head of the law enforcement agency to while
the offending witness belongs of the sanction imposed against the said
witness

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Section 5. This Joint Memorandum Circular shall take effect immediately.

11 January 1996, Malacañang, Manila.”

April 24, 1996.

		(SGD.) ERNANI CRUZ PANO
		Court Administrator