MANILA, Philippines Scrap those court summons being sent in hand-carry mails that take

weeks or months; electronic subpoenas can now be used and transmitted in matter of seconds.
onsidered a major breakthrough the upreme ourt the epartment of ustice hilippine
ational olice officially launched on Wednesday the e-Subpoena system, a web-based
information system that speeds up the transmittal of court subpoenas and notices to the police.
The system particularly addresses negligence of police officers, who are witnesses in criminal
cases, in responding to summons issued by the court.
hief ustice Maria Lourdes Sereno, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima and Interior Secretary
Manuel Roxas II, and Deputy Director General Leonardo Espina signed the Memorandum of
Agreement at the PNP headquarters in Camp Crame.
In a speech, Sereno recalled one time when she surveyed the court judges on their usual woes.

Photo by Julliane Love de Jesus/INQUIRER.net
asked them judges who among the case witnesses we are mainly having problems with
when appearing at hearings Their common answer policemen, especially those who were
witnesses for drug cases she said.
On an average, when subpoenas are sent to the responsible police stations, it usually takes two to
four months before it reaches the police.
In a day, there are around 960 subpoenas sent by the court. But PNP said most of the court
summons are sent to the police units with delays, slowing down the progress of cases.
ve also heard from some practicing lawyers that they have colleagues who block couriers from
bringing the subpoena to the police station Roxas meanwhile said in his speech.
After the signing, a live demonstration of the first online transmittal of subpoena from Quezon
City Regional Trial Court Branch 84 to a police officer assigned at QC Police District Kamuning
station was conducted.
The e-subpoena process
The courts through its court administrator will send the subpoenas to units concerned in
the identified website the said in a statement.
The clerk of court will encode the details of the subpoena in a computer connected to the
Internet.
In just a matter of seconds, the subpoena is sent to the police unit where a police witness
is assigned.
The Chief of Police of that unit will then acknowledge the subpoena, print a copy, and hand it to
the witness.
But if the police witness was reassigned to another station, the court process officer (CPO) will
re-send a copy to the unit the police is currently assigned.
The police stations through the O and irectorate for nvestigation and etective
Management (DIDM), will give feedback on the availability or non-availability of the police
officer concerned within three working days from receipt thereof the added.
In a statement, the Department of the Interior and Local (DILG) secretary said that once the
system is fully operational, it would allow the PNP to monitor the polices attendance and non-
attendance of scheduled court hearings.
Their attendance will eventually form part of the performance evaluation under the merit and
demerit system of the said Roxas.
The system will be made possible with at least one computer unit per police station, an Internet
connection, an office or unit PNP private e-mail account, a web browser, and a user account.
Roxas said all units of the PNP have been given e-mail accounts that can be accessed through the
PNP website.

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