Philippine Judiciary: A whole lot of grease-money (part 2)

(this is continued from the first blog...)

* Court of Appeals - this is another joke of the Philippine Judicial branch. Let us say I killed someone. So If I was pronounced 'GUILTY', I can 'appeal' again to make it 'NOT GUILTY.'  Hey, it works like a charm, and this has been done by lots of people, who has lots of cash to spend and 'grease' out the judges and staff there.

* Court of Tax Appeals - Ever heard of the pawnshop owner who bought a Ferrari and was sent to the Philippines tax free? So you forgot about this story huh? So he was charged, no big deal. he can always go to this another pathetic branch where you can make an appeal and remove your taxes off the slate.

There are other branches as below, you can read them what they do as you like. They have no purpose in anyway I could think of. Enlighten me if there is something important.

Judicial and Bar Council
Office of the Court Administrator
Philippine Judicial Academy
Philippine Mediation Center

As you can see, I am critical with the Philippine justice system. I myself is a victim too. But past is past, I am just sharing these with you. Life is unfair really, and there maybe other countries out there much worse than the Philippines when it comes to corruption and poor justice. But I am not concerned with them so, let them be.

If you watched 'Back to the Future II', it is a dream for everyone that court decisions come out in just minutes - removing the need for judges and lawyers.

Philippine Judiciary: A whole lot of grease-money

With all the hoopla around Corona's impeachment and the 'stop work' or 'sit-down' strike of its supporters, no wonder the Philippine Judiciary system is in shambles. Corona is known as a 'midnight appointee', quickly put or placed by former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo as Chief Justice.

Now, this in itself is questionable. GMA has appointed someone there in a public office -  an office that must be unbiased, impartial, and fair for all citizens. Even though he is a qualified person, with this position as high almost the same as 'God', even more powerful than the President, is being appointed immediately. Without any scrutiny from fellow law bar members, or consensus from any third party organization. Why?

Actually there are lots of answers, I do not want to be involved neither. We all knew the answers in our minds and hearts. What am I after is how can we solve this mess that the Judiciary is facing. Let us study what the Philippine Judiciary is about, IN AN ORDINARY FILIPINO'S PERSPECTIVE :

Supreme Court - if you keep losing on all your cases, your final bet is the supreme court. I am surprised that even small cases right now like compensation for employees against their employer reach to the supreme court! (check out the case of NIÑA JEWELRY MANUFACTURING OF METAL ARTS, INC. (otherwise known as NIÑA MANUFACTURINGAND METAL ARTS, INC.) and ELISEA B. ABELLA, G.R. No. 188169 on SC's website http://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/jurisprudence/2011/november2011/188169.htm)

I am not a lawyer or a judge here, but as a common person. This shows how long the justice system in the Philippines is taking. The case dragged from 2005 with the final decision posted on their website recently (promulgation was on 28 Nov. 2011).

Such a long process, what will the employees do for the rest of those 6 years? How can they eat and pay the bills? if they(employees) are guilty of theft, why they are not charged?

The SC must tackle big court cases only, not a simple employer/employee case which can be handled by the DOLE (another pathetic Phil. government organization).

So if you could just imagine a murder case like Nida Blanca, even the Vizconde Massacre, we don't know yet who is the killer? Where is he/she now? And how could our SC solve these cases? It would take many years for sure.

And if you want to fast track the decision - better have some grease-money to turn the gears of justice. The more the money, the better the chances the results will be in your favor.

(to be continued)