Posted by Ojos De Brujo on 3/21/2007, 1:43 am The failure to find the right solution to the perpetual government corruption in the Philippines (like in many corrupt government of other countries) is due, in fact, to the failure of knowing its fundamental cause. The compadre system often blamed as its chief cause is not, but a mere product of, a basic underlying cause - wrong analysis equals wrong solution. The basic cause: The disenfranchisement of the people by the government of their participation in the justice system is the primary and ultimate cause of government corruption. Like in almost all corrupt governments of many countries, the Philippine justice system is a total government monopoly which primarily benefits, directly or indirectly, government officials while the people are mere secondary beneficiaries and treated like second class citizens after the elections. Public officials are not afraid of the people because the Filipino people have no clout in their justice system. The ultimate solution to make Philippine public officials more fearful of abusing their authority is to implement the supreme power of the Filipino people, as declared in their Constitution, by way of establishing a device for their participation in the Philippine justice. Without such a device, the people*s sovereign authority is nothing but a toothless power (walang postiso) no matter how much they demonstrate that power in the streets. The people should be the boss in their justice system and not the other way around. "The Philippines is a .... REPUBLICAN state" (Article II, Sec 1, Phil Const) and, therefore, it*s people have 3 votes to exercise - to elect, to indict, and to convict. Why 3 votes? To understand this concept, please click and fully read this Internet web site -> http://jj-johnson.com/jury.htm#jury. the filipino people have supreme powers but they are beggars of justice we may be wondering why the philippines is not as stable as the united states although we have copied, and tried to improve, the american constitution and also in spite of the fact that we are comparably well educated as the american people are. any filipino who has lived in the u.s. knows this. the basic cause for the wide disparity of the social stability between the u.s. and the philippines is due to the excellent justice system in the u.s. compared to its poor counter-part in the philippines. in the u.s., the highest dynamic authority of justice are exercised by the common american people, and not by their government officials. the supreme authority of justice in the philippines is totally the opposite - the philippine government is the boss. in the u.s., the people are the real boss of justice. american prosecutors and judges need to show their evidence to the people upon which the people make their decision to indict or to convict a public official or any person who commits a major crime. they accomplish this by means of their local direct representative groups, called grand juries (to secretly investigate and indict) and trial juries (to publicly try and convict). no country in the world has these "twin" jury systems working together, except in the u.s. also please refer to: this site. jury decisions come out fast and prevent back log of court cases. these juries serve like the proverbial "sword of damocles" that hangs over the heads of public officials at all times. public officials in the u.s. are not necessarily more honest than filipino officials but they are simply fearful of the people*s speedy judicial processes in the jury rooms when they abuse their authority. american juries can put a corrupt official in jail within 3 to 6 months from the day his misdeeds are discovered. this is what the filipino people should do with their corrupt officials and employees and they should not rely on bureaucrats to accuse and try other fellow bureaucrats. we should do away with the cosmetic "lutong macaw" justice. these "twin" jury systems are, in fact, the binding force among the american people in spite of their ethnic diversity and their very numerous states and the reason for its prosperity that attracts many people around the world to live in this great nation. it is not unusual to see different ethnicity of persons, i.e., filipinos, chinese, vietnamese, whites and blacks, that compose american juries. they are unconsciously united to fight a common foe called "injustice". the compadre system cannot work in the u.s., because the accused on trial will be confronted by a "collective judge" called trial jury with numerous members. even if the judge is bribed, the multiple members of the jury will decide his case - not solely by one judge. it is hard to bribe jurors because they are watched by both sides in a trial as well as by the judge. no one is allowed to speak to the jurors except openly in the court room and only in the presence of the real parties before the presiding judge. when jurors deliberate to decide a case, they are closeted with none other but themselves alone. the presiding judge is not allowed to speak to them during their deliberation. what we need in the philippines is jury power for the filipino people in jury rooms to force public officials and the filthy rich cohorts and cronies to bow and to respect us, the people. hoping to elect the most powerful honest politicians in the world for the filipino people is simply an impossible dream. the effectiveness of street demonstrations is of no much to the power of juries because juries can directly put corrupt officials in jail. juries operate under the supreme authority of the people in their respective districts and their powers are not simply derived from a prosecutor, judge or any other public official. public officials merely act as advisers for the juries. such officials need to submit their evidence to, and for independent approval by, the jury. the ultimate decision to indict an offender rests with the people through their grand jury. the ultimate judgment whether to convict or acquit the offender also rests with the people through their trial jury. in serious crimes like corruption cases, the people through their juries have the highest authority to decide and not their prosecutors or judges. jury members, both for grand juries and trial juries, are blindly chosen by means of a lottery under the supervision of a judge from a pool (or reserve) of citizens whose qualification have long been determined prior to their call for jury duty. no other official is allowed to approve their appointment. in the u.s., the basic qualification of a jury member is that he must be a u.s. citizen, 18 years old or over, must know how to speak and write the english language. a high school diploma is not even required. if this is of great concern to filipino politicians if they want to institute the system in the philippines, they can upgrade a juror*s qualification to that of a high school graduate. any high school graduate, can understand as to the issue (or issue) of "who", "when", "where" and "why" in any matter, the area in which their decision is required when called in for jury duty. by the manner of choosing jurors in the u.s., their justice system is kept away from politics, beyond control by powerful officials or politicians, and above people*s suspicion. in the u.s., the more highly educated you are, your chance of being picked as a juror in a trial jury is less likely because prosecutors and judges don*t want jurors to detect bad laws that are passed by legislatures. like in the philippines, u.s. bureaucrats think that the government is always right as against the people. please click - > jury nullification powers. given the worsening graft in high places of government, it is high time for the filipino people to adopt the grand jury system to secretly investigate and indict offenders of government corruption and grave offenses, and also to adopt the trial jury system in court trials of such offenders. these devices will enable the people to check in the comfort of their court rooms, instead of in the streets, the abuses of government officials including abusive individuals outside the government services in their respective localities to prevent the tentacles of corruption from creeping all over the country. juries may not directly indict the president but they can surely start indicting cronies and cohorts who will eventually be forced to divulge higher up masterminds and bring out evidence for impeachment.. juries are the surest means to "nip the bud" of corruption anywhere around the philippines. note: this writer has a draft of the proposed bill or measure for the creation of the jury systems in the philippines. it is entitled "people*s action against corruption act", "paaca" for short. it is ready for sponsorship as a public initiative by a private citizen under republic act 6735 if no member of congress (for reason of conflict of interest) would be willing to sponsor it in the floor of congress. it may be a good idea to convince former presidents aquino and ramos in view of their strong leadership to sponsor the measure as a public initiative for direct approval by the people.
71.107.198.232
The Million Dollar Topic)
By Marlowe Camello, Attorney at Law, Philippines and California
the filipino people*s assertion for justice cannot be heard on their side because their voices are disenfranchised. their show of force in the streets is merely an informal statement of their will but fundamentally they are just beggars of justice because public demonstration is not a formally organized body of citizens that is capable of an orderly investigation of the misconduct of public officials upon which they can base their decision to indict or convict and to send corrupt officials to jail.
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