justice

So We Don’t Forget: Duterte’s Case with the ICC

2 Comments / governance, history, justice / By

Do you know, Reader, that there is RA 9851, signed into law in 2009, two years before we ratified the Rome Statute? Some experts say it is even more strict than the Rome Statute. It punishes superiors who either knew or, owing to the circumstances at the time, should have known that the subordinates were committing or about to commit crimes against humanity? So why has Duterte or anyone not even been charged, much less brought to trial under this law?

Four Comments

1 Comment / governance, justice / By

It was in performing her duties as Secretary of Justice that de Lima again stepped on giant toes – like those of Senators Ramon Revilla, Jr., Jinggoy Estrada, and Juan Ponce Enrile, plus five former representatives (some dynastic), plus executives/employees of government corporations – 38 in all. It was in regard to these cases that the sobriquet “Three Furies” was coined.

To remind, Reader: Revilla and Estrada are back as Senators (what does this tell you), and Juan Ponce Enrile, my neighbor, is now very much in the center of power.

Tell A Lie Often Enough, It Becomes The Truth

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A colleague, Gerardo Sicat, asserts that the progress of “Tiger Economies” of East Asia-South Korea, Taiwan, Hongkong and Singapore – was “fueled by the heavy participation of foreign capital”. I refer him to the table on FDI, 1970-2021 which Sonny Africa presented to the Congressional Committee on Constitutional Amendments at the hearing on Thursday, where we were all present. the data show that FDI flows into Taiwan and South Korea were on the whole less, both in absolute terms and in percent of GDP, than FDI flows into the Philippines. In other words, there was no “heavy participation of foreign capital” that Gerry Sicat describes.

Faster Than a Speeding Bullet

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Our Criminal Justice, according to the 2022 World Justice Project’s Rule of Law Index, has the lowest score among 8 factors that comprise the Index. We were given a score of 0.32 (0 is the lowest, showing weakest adherence to the rule of law, and 1 is the highest score showing strongest adherence). For context, the global average is 0.47 and the regional average, i.e. East Asia and the Pacific, is 0.53. That’s how bad our system is.

Justice Delayed (and Confused) – Part II

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The Sandiganbayan showed Justice delayed, denied, confused, biased and wasteful. Navy Case 1: In 19 yrs., SB convicted 1 low-level Navy officer & 2 civilians, out of 45-57 original accused officers of much higher rank, many at large. Case II was for 2.5 million and after 5 years produced one guilty officer who died before having to serve an 18-year jail sentence.

Justice Delayed – Part I

1 Comment / justice / By

[I]t took 9 years (28 minus 19) for the government to bring the case to court, and 19 years for the SB to hear and decide on it. Now that is what you call a snail’s pace. Compare this with what the Speedy Trial Act of 1998 requires…a total of 225 days by law versus 19 years in reality.

A Win-Win Solution:   Grant Leila Bail Now, the Courts Can Take Their Time

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Here is a win-win solution. The courts will continue hearing the cases, which is what the DOJ wants (what a waste of the people’s money, merely to save face). But the prosecutors (who are DOJ appointed) will now officially withdraw their objections to Leila’s request for bail. Which means Leila will be granted bail, and she can fight the cases against her from outside, not inside. What do you think, Reader?

The Furigay-Yumol Feud

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What is not clear is whether there were extenuating circumstances in the Ateneo event. Is he mentally deranged, or was he temporarily insane? Or is what happened in Ateneo last Sunday the culmination of events that started with an abuse of political power and a citizen driven to despair? Or, a combination of both, did he lose his mind because of what he was undergoing?