WHAT CAN YOU SAY ABOUT THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM OF THE PHILIPPINES?

WHAT CAN YOU SAY ABOUT THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM OF THE PHILIPPINES?

by: Marty P. Cachapero

I am a Branch Clerk of Court of a Regional Trial Court in the province. As the Clerk of Court, I exercise general administrative supervision over all the personnel of the branch and more importantly, a partner of the judge in administering justice in the regional level.

As an officer of the court, I am aware of the various opinions of the people about the institution of which I am a part of.  I believe the popular connotations about our judicial system are that it is ineffective, inefficient, snail-paced, anti-poor, and most of all corrupt. We cannot entirely blame the people for thinking in this manner. Perhaps they have their own experiences to support their personal beliefs. But, it is also fair to say that the judiciary should not entirely be held responsible for this. Party litigants, lawyers, and prosecutors, share the fault as well. This is because litigants, lawyers, and prosecutors are all partners of the judiciary in the proper delivery of justice.

The ineffectiveness and inefficiency of the justice system are mainly due to the complicated, expensive, and tedious court processes. However, the Supreme Court, through the leadership of the newly installed Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno, is constantly reexamining and introducing ingenious reforms in our court procedures, the latest of which is the substitution of the entire direct examination of a witness to a mere submission of a judicial affidavit of the said witness. This change is very promising, and if executed properly, will result to a more effective, efficient, inexpensive, and perhaps, expeditious resolution of cases.

The work, however, is not the sole responsibility of the Judiciary. The other players – the lawyers and litigants – have a part to perform. Lawyers need also to maintain a high degree of professionalism and competence in the discharge of their duties to their clients and to the court as well. Duties such as the genuinely advancing the cause, and safeguarding the rights, of their clients, and the faithful compliance, and avoidance of misuse, of court processes.

I have seen cases pending in court for more than a decade. But a careful perusal of the record of these cases would reveal that one of the reasons why these cases were dragged for such a long time was because the lawyers and the litigants themselves were not vigilant enough in pursuing their cases. Lawyers, particularly the prosecuting attorneys, normally employ means to delay or prolong their cases, all of which were designed to favor their clients. On the other hand, defense lawyers and their clients lack the commitment to push for the early resolution of their cases when there are available remedies at their disposal.

As for the claim of corruption in the judiciary, a keen effort to end it must be initiated not only by the government but by each and every one of us. If someone witnesses an incident of corruption, one must have a strong conviction and brave disposition to report it to concerned authorities. Also, if there is no one subscribing to corruption, there will be no corrupt people in the judiciary.

I have been with the judiciary enough to observe workings of our judicial system, and although there are various areas that really need improvement, it is far from being a hopeless case. Work has to be done though to gain the confidence of the people to our judicial system. All what it takes is the strong and common effort of the judiciary, the lawyers, and the people to make the judiciary great once again.