Mamamayang Liberal Party-list Representative Leila de Lima has renewed her call for legislative action to penalize individuals who incite or force witnesses to give false testimonies.
The former Justice Secretary emphasized the destructive impact of false allegations on the judicial process, pointing to her past imprisonment under fabricated charges as a clear testament to the system’s vulnerabilities.
“Bilang dating Justice Secretary at ipinakulong noon dahil sa imbentong mga kaso na batay lang sa mga gawa-gawang paratang, malinaw na ang pagsisinungaling sa korte ay pagwasak sa integridad ng ating sistemang pangkatarungan,” De Lima said in a social media post.
“This has to end. Those responsible for this travesty of justice should be held accountable,” she added.
De Lima’s statement comes in the wake of significant witness retractions, including former Marine Sgt. Orly Guteza, who withdrew an affidavit claiming he delivered money-stuffed luggage to former House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez. Additionally, four former security staff members of former Ako Bicol Party-list Representative Elizaldy Co retracted similar statements.
In response to these developments, De Lima identified House Bill 1435—the proposed Criminalizing Subornation of Perjury Act—as one of her top legislative goals.
“Under our proposed measure, public officials or employees who commit subornation of perjury face higher penalties and perpetual disqualification from holding public office or employment. Tigilan ang pagsisinungaling at pekeng mga testimonya! HB 1435, isabatas,” De Lima stated.
Under HB 1435, any individual who instigates, coerces, or bribes another to execute false sworn statements or give perjured court testimony to accuse someone of a crime will be charged with subornation of perjury. The offense carries a sentence ranging from prision mayor in its maximum period (10 years and 1 day to 12 years) to reclusion temporal in its minimum period (12 years and 1 day to 14 years and 8 months).
The penalties are considerably stiffer if the perpetrator is a public official or government worker, who would face reclusion temporal to reclusion perpetua (12 to 30 years imprisonment), along with a fine of up to ₱1 million and permanent disqualification from holding any government office.