Postscript to Batas Mauricio’s Commentary: “Hostage-taking: Indictment of RP's Justice System? |
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Columns - Unsolicited Advice | |||
Written by Bobby Reyes | |||
Tuesday, 24 August 2010 10:57 | |||
The Philippines Needs a Jury Structure as Part of a “Reinvention” of its Criminal-justice System
By Bobby M. Reyes
A tty. Batas Mauricio has a valid point in his latest commentary, as posted in several e-forums, that “. . . the bloody incident that claimed the life of (dismissed Police Major Rolando) Mendoza and eight Hong Kong nationals after a 12-hour hostage drama showed quite clearly the prevailing distrust that Filipinos are entertaining, deep in their hearts, that they could not really get justice here anymore, and that one could even get unjustifiably punished simply because of lack of money and lack of influence and connections.” While certainly Atty. Mauricio was not justifying or rationalizing the criminal conduct of Mr. Mendoza, perhaps the Filipino national policy-and-decision makers ought to hear opinions about the need to “reinvent” the nation’s justice system.
In 2003, as a member of the core group that was planning for the presidential candidacy in 2004 of then Sen. Aquilino Q. Pimentel, Jr., I wrote a memo about the need to reinvent the criminal-justice system. Senator Pimentel chose not to run for the presidency and my proposal was forgotten. The article was eventually published in this website on April 11, 2007, as per this link: Reinventing the Philippine Criminal-justice System It may interest the current Aquino Dispensation and the members of the 15th Philippine Congress to know of Part Two of my suggestion in the said article of introducing the “Jury System” by first applying it among the members of the Philippine military and police and to all government employees. I wrote:
QUOTE. 2.4 Step Two is my suggestion of commissioning all public officials and civil servants into the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and all cases for graft, corruption and/or criminal misconduct (filed against any public servant by any person, including civilians) be heard and decided within 60 to 90 days by a Court Martial.
2.4.1 The AFP's Judge Advocate General's Office (JAGO) will have to be "reinvented," so that a military version of the Jury System (JS) will be in place, with a civilian-controlled OPD (Office of the Public Defender) handling the defense for the accused public servant(s).
2.4.2 For the jurors' pool, my suggestion was to tap not only the AFP's four branches (army, air force, navy and marines) but also law students and former law students, so that the Court-martial experience will further train them for the eventual introduction of the JS in the civil courts. UNQUOTE.
To read the article in its entirety, please click on this link, Reinventing the Philippine Criminal-justice System
If my suggestion was adopted into law, then the criminal complaints against Mr. Mendoza and five other police officers in 2008 could have been decided by a jury in a Court Martial within 60 to 90 days. The Los Angeles Times reported about the Mendoza Hostage-taking Incident in this link, as written by John M. Glionna and Al Jacinto, 8 hostages killed in Manila bus hijacking
The Los Angeles Times report said that “Mendoza was among five officers charged with robbery and extortion after a Manila hotel chef filed a complaint alleging the policemen falsely accused him of using drugs to extort money, according to 2008 newspaper reports. Mendoza denied the allegations against him.”
Here is the latest commentary from Atty. Batas Mauricio:
“Hostage-taking: Indictment of RP's Justice System?”
Do not pervert justice; do not show partiality to the poor or favoritism to the great, but judge your neighbor fairly ... -ooo- "HOW COME HELP DIDN'T COME MUCH EARLIER?" Indeed, the police and other officials of the Aquino government have a lot of explaining to do, in answering the question of one of the women-hostages who survived the ordeal but whose husband was unlucky as he decided to sacrifice himself for the other Chinese nationals: how come help didn't come much earlier? If I were in a position of authority, I would have immediately ordered the reinstatement of Mendoza into the Philippine National Police, as he demanded prior to his death, because that would have surely resulted in a peaceful resolution of the hostage stand off. Reinstatement should have been no big deal, because that would not have meant an exoneration of the charges against him anyway. Why was this not done? # # #
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Last Updated on Tuesday, 24 August 2010 11:08 |
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Nelson
The officers and members of Philippine Jury International Ltd profoundly commiserate with the families of the victims and the family of Rolando Mendoza. The tragedy has highlighted for all the Filipinos to see how sick our justice system is.
If the brother of the hijacker, himself a policeman, distrusts the police officers handling the crisis and who arrested him for complicity; who can the Filipinos trust in enforcing the law? How can we trust our country’s policing agencies?
The blame should be put fairly and squarely on our legislative and judicial bodies for not curing our society’s perennial illness. These are graft and corruption not just in government but in all walks of life. Many will blame the homeland’s lack of resources. But is this really the reason?
We can list down a host of problems and inadequacies and bet that they are all, even the insignificant ones, due to graft and corruption. “Only in the Philippines”, as the Filipinos fondly say, “these unbelievable things can happen!” Just imagine:
· The ill-equipped police surrounding the hijacked bus not even wearing bullet proof vests;
· The drama of Mendoza’s brother and family resisting arrest on TV for all the world to see, which probably triggered the shooting of the hostages;
· The rotting tons of rice kept in a warehouse while people had to endure rice shortage and high prices during the successive flooding in Metro Manila and elsewhere;
· The massacre perpetuated by the Ampatuan’s and their succeeding acquittal by a Filipino judge,
· The public admission by the former President Arroyo of her involvement in the “Hello, Garci Tapes.”
This is just the tip of the iceberg!
How can our legislators and justices for decades keep a blind eye to the Filipinos’ complaints and solution to our beloved country’s problems?
Merely reforming the single-judge system will not solve our enormous problem. As a saying goes, “If we keep doing what we have always been doing, we will keep getting what we have always got.” What have we got but a corrupt people and corrupt government?
Our legislators should incorporate the jury system in our constitution as has been done in many progressive, democratic countries because it will deter corrupt people and corrupt government from committing crimes against the many. (Read “Why we need a jury system”, www.philippinejury.com)
To our Legislators, please listen to our plea. Have the Filipinos not suffered enough?
Mabuhay ang Pilipinas! It's the only one we've got.
Daisy ABH
Tumbagang Isda