FROM THE DESK OF MCG.... JURY SYSTEM IN THE PHILIPPINES? I read an article posted by "Bagong Bayani", an advocate of jury system in the Philippines, soliciting support for their advocacy. It looks like we have not really emancipated ourselves from being copycats or "gaya-gaya". There is this joke where a guy bought the newest fashion shoes in New York before he caught his plane to Manila. When he arrived in Manila, he readily displayed his new pair of shoes which was the newest fad in New York. He was wondering why the people whom he was bragging to just ignored him and and as a matter of fact were laughing. Late he knew, his new pair of shoes were already out of fashion in the Philippines... When Casey Anthony was acquitted, we were watching the proceedings in the Bistro and almost all those Americans watching were so upset. They were shouting it was a travesty of justice. Everyone seemed to be of the opinion that Casey Anthony should be adjudged guilty as charged. A black American woman who usually gives me a ride home quipped, "If she was black, she would surely be found guilty and sentenced to death!" Then I confronted that woman. I cannot understand you Americans! You are professing civil rights, freedom, democracy, and liberty. Here is a woman who had her day in court. She was accused of killing her own child. The judicial proceedings were all in accordance with legal procedures. Due process of law was at work. That process of law which inquires before it condemns, proceeds upon inquiry, and renders judgment only after trial. As a matter of fact, the judge was black...and some members of the jury were also black..Why would Americans who are supposed to be champions of liberty and democracy cannot accept the verdict? How then would civilized people prosecute criminal cases? Would trial by publicity or trial by public opinion be better than well enshrined judicial proceedings? When an accused is acquitted in open court, then the matter should have been put to rest. Unlike in convictions, acquittal in open court has no appeal...Even if subsequently, evidences are discovered that would prove that indeed she was guilty, the case cannot be reopened and convict her on this basis because this would lead to double jeopardy. Once acquitted in open court, the matter should be put to rest or what is called res judicata...If she was guilty but the prosecution failed to convict her on the basis of evidence or technicality, then she has to be acquitted. The law may be hard, but it is still the law. Dura lex sed lex.... There is only one case I know where the double jeopardy doctrine was set aside. This was the case of the Aquino-Galman Double murder case. It must be remembered that the accused military men were acquitted under the Fernando Commission. When Cory Aquino took over the reigns of government, the verdict was deemed all show or theatrics because they claimed that the Fernando Commission who tried the case was a puppet of Marcos. So, the Cory government reopened and tried the case again under the Agrava Commission claiming that there was no double jeopardy. According to them, since the first Court that tried the accused was a farce, THEN THE ACCUSED WERE NEVER JEOPARDIZED..... Then here comes a group advocating a Jury System for the Philippines claiming it would be a better medicine for the ills in the Philippine Judicial System. The pillars of the Criminal Justice System in the Philippines are the Judiciary, the Police, and the Penology. Before we talk about taking a pill that would cure the ills in the Criminal Justice System, have we thought of the rampant corruption in the judiciary? The Police? The Penology or Bureau of Corrections? If we shift to Jury System, would the ills in the pillars of the Criminal Justice System be cured? Would justice be served? Or are we injecting poison instead of a cure? If ordinary people here in US are still swayed by their emotions in serving as jurors, how would the ordinary Filipino juror fare? How would a taxi driver, or a balut vendor, or a janitor appreciate evidences that would either convict or acquit an accused? My God! I could not imagine how it would be like...Would it be a circus or like a telenovela on TV?
Posted on: Sat, 06 Jul 2013 07:22:04 +0000
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