Justice System in the Philippines

Everytime we are asked about the justice system in the Philippines, we tend to match and compare it to bias judgement. We wonder why. The Philippine Justice system has emerged a long time ago in the Philippine lands but it is one thing that we can't afford to neglect considering that we are a democratic state which is govern by a constitution and that constitution is always supreme. Socio-political status affects the justice system. Superiority complex is also one of the factors that affect the system that tend to bend the law and hinder justice. It is rampant in the sovereign soil. Most of the Filipinos believe that the justice system in the country is biased because it mostly favors the rich or the elite people. If you are poor and is accused of committing a crime, you will be forced to confess the crime even if you did not commit it, in order for the process of the case to be fast and to lighten their sentence. Aside from being biased, the process is very slow. Some cases took 5-10 years in court before they can provide justice to irregularities. Based on our observation from our court visit, it was evident that the process of the case was very slow. They were requested to return to the court after a month in order to continue the hearing. The current issue that is very sensitive about the justice system of the Philippines is the extra judicial killings. Duterte as the current president has given Philippines a rise of issues about Human Rights and Justice. Talking about justice, President Duterte’s drug campaign had tremendously increased death tolls just within months. As ordinary citizens, we know that there is due process for the accused. How were the processes done hastily? According to Article III Sec. 1 No person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law, nor shall any person be denied the equal protection of the laws. Nowadays, many people, even the police officers, are violating the laws because of the campaign. Thousands have been killed due to drug campaign within months. Has justice been really served? We all have families. Let’s put our shoes to those families that mourn for deaths of their loved ones. How would we feel? In one of the interview of our president, he highlighted on his speech that he doesn’t care about human rights. His own way of dealing the drug issues may be successful. However, it costs the lives of many. How will government protect and fulfill the human rights of the citizens, when it is very obvious that the victims of this bloody war against drugs are the poor. Obviously, it only creates a society full of anger, hatred, and death. Sec.14.2 of Article III states that “In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall be presumed innocent until the contrary is proved, and shall enjoy the right to be heard by himself and counsel.” But what is happening now in our society? Those accused were all shot dead. They were denied of their rights to prove their innocence. How can we trust the judicial system in our country? When obviously it is corrupt and only applies for the elite and rich people. We must find and make a strategy to correct injustices in the justice system because if not, this will forfeit the definition of justice and would be therefore unconstitutional.