The House committees on justice and on appropriations have jointly endorsed for plenary approval the bill establishing a new armed marshals service to safeguard judges and court staff from potential threats and violence.
“We have very high hopes the bill will be passed into law soon, since it is already up for plenary action in both chambers of Congress,” Surigao del Sur Rep. Johnny Pimentel, the bill’s principal author, said.
Pimentel filed the bill in 2019 after then Chief Justice Diosdado Peralta called for the creation of a dedicated protective force for the judiciary amid the spate of killings of judges.
Under House Bill 9086, the Judiciary Marshals Service will operate “as an independent, professional, and organized security force under the direct control and supervision of the Supreme Court.”
“The service will be under the Office of Court Administrator. It will be headed by a chief marshal, who will have the same rank and privileges as an associate justice of the Supreme Court,” Pimentel, chairperson of the House strategic intelligence committee, said.
“The chief marshal will be assisted by three deputies – one each for Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao – who will have the same rank and privileges as a regional trial court judge,” Pimentel said.
The chief marshal and his or her three deputies must all be members of the Philippine Bar, and must have held the rank of at least a full colonel in the Armed Forces or the National Police, or assistant director of the National Bureau of Investigation.
They will be appointed by the Supreme Court en banc and serve until they reach the age of 65 years old.
The bill leaves it up to the high tribunal to configure the full staffing pattern of the service.
The marshals will:
-Protect justices, judges, court officials and staff as well as court properties;
-Investigate, in coordination with other law enforcement agencies, crimes and offenses committed against justices, judges, court officials and staff as well as court assets, including actionable threats;
-Secure court proceedings, trials and hearings, including conferences, seminars and meetings;
-Investigate, in coordination with other law enforcement agencies, and whenever applicable, with the Office of the Ombudsman, allegations of irregularities, including graft and corrupt practices, committed by justices, judges, court officials and staff; and
-Assist in the execution of court orders.
The marshals may:
-Carry duly licensed, suitable and adequate firearms;
-Make arrests and conduct searches and seizures in relation to their functions, and in accordance with the Constitution, existing laws and rules;
-Issue subpoenas for the appearance of any person for investigation, apply for search warrants before any court of law, and file complaints before the city or provincial prosecutor, the Department of Justice, or the Ombudsman;
-Take and request sworn statements from any person so summoned in relation to cases under investigation, in accordance with the Constitution, existing laws and rules;
-Administer the oath of any person in relation to cases under investigation; and
-Have access to all public records in the custody of any government agency.
