PAGBABAGO
By DR. FLORANGEL ROSARIO BRAID
Dr. Florangel Rosario Braid
This is a continuation of my piece on the decline of democracy not only in the country, but throughout the world as shown by two global surveys. A number of analysts -- David Timberman of Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, International IDEA, and several others -- provide convincing arguments on why this is happening, and what remedies can be offered to arrest the continuing erosion.
Among the indicators are gradual loss of civil liberties, clampdown on civil societies, restrictions in freedom of expression, deteriorating rule of law, blatant disrespect of norms such as multilateralism, weakening of checks and balances, exclusionary policies, shrinking of civic space, lack of judicial independence and access to justice.
Analysts explain these as the consequences of capture of politics by the elite, polarization due to disinformation, disenchantment with political actors for their inability to address socio-economic inequalities and persistent corruption, and lack of accountable institutions.
At some point, we shall dissect the significance of these factors but for now, let me focus on access to justice, a dream of every Filipino. Wasn’t it that a poor man when asked what he preferred more – food on the table, or justice, he said unhesitatingly- “Justice.”
Apparently, many of the ills in Philippine society, including the so-called democracy “deficits,” are attributed to the justice system, its lack of judicial independence and lack of access by ordinary people.
Public support of the drug war is seen as a reflection of people’s disillusionment with the justice system. In our so-called “narcopolitics,” extrajudicial killings, warrantless arrest of hundreds of thousands over the past three years continue to stress the already overburdened justice system.
There had been initiatives, well-funded and with enthusiastic public support in the early to mid-2000’s, which was during former Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr.’s watch. It was when the Supreme Court implemented the Action Program for Judicial Reform (APJR) with grants and loans from international agencies, among them, the World Bank, ADB, UNDP, the Supreme Court successfully implemented 50 projects under six areas -- Judicial Systems and Procedures, Institutional Development, Human Resource Development, Integrity Infrastructure. Development, Access to Justice by the Poor, and Reform Support System. It drew heads of funding agencies, judges and justices from various countries. Its more visible program today is the Philippine Judicial Academy (PhilJA) once headed by former SC Justice Ameurfina M. Herrera and now former SC Justice Adolf Azcuna.
For several years, our group provided consultancy to the Judicial reform project, among them, an IEC support to Access to Justice by the Poor, a
collaborative project involving DSWD, DILG, DOJ, the Supreme Court, and Alternative Law Groups with funding by the European Commission. The outcome was the refinement of the system of availing justice so that it can be made more accessible to the poor, and to institutionalize it in the various municipal courts of the country. Weaknesses such as need to popularize and translate the technical language of the law and to improve the efficiency of its delivery, were addressed. Municipal IEC officers were trained to coordinate activities. As one may expect, the flow gets stalled at the prosecutor level. Either the latter could not attend the trial because of illness or he is a “ninong” at a wedding or some such thing. The trial becomes a waiting game with one postponement after another. A similar observation was shared by a prosecutor in the infamous Ampatuan massacre trial to explain the much delayed justice.
Former Chief Justice Artemio Panganiban reinforces this observation in his column, “Filing cases not enough,” citing examples where cases (former President Gloria Arroyo, former PNP chief Alan Purisima, PNP SAF Getulio Napenas, former President Marcos, his wife, and alleged cronies) were eventually dropped after the cases were filed. “We need persistent and diligent follow-up, and it begins with the filing in court of the properly worded information,” he notes.
The project I cited earlier was piloted in several municipalities throughout the country. The coordinated assistance of the social worker, the police officer, the prosecutor a member of Alternative Law Groups, and the municipal IEC officer who helps ensure that the case reaches the final stage. The involvement of DILG which has responsibility over cities and municipalities was crucial in getting the system institutionalized. But judging from the kind of justice that we have today, we realize that the experience did not make much impact.
After going through International IDEA’s report on the Global State of Democracy, I was dismayed to learn that the survey on Asia-Pacific showed that the best practices on Access to Justice included Australia, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, South Korea, and Taiwan. And to think that we had all the opportunity to share our best practices since we were favored with support from almost all the international development agencies including our own government. It is a sad fact that while we do not lack initiative in embarking on development reforms, we are not as motivated to work on ensuring that these reforms last. The Filipino is not lacking in creativity and innovation. But the narrative over the past decades and centuries remains the same. Our inability to integrate our new learnings into our ethos, mindsets, and in the soul of our institutions.
My e-mail, [email protected]