Into the Dark Side

by Napoleon C. Reyes

The justice system is aptly called a system. For it to work and to function, all

parts must be in place. For each part that is corrupted or is failing makes the

whole chain breakdown. And carabao justice continues its drudging and grudging

step into the dark side.1

Official crime figures indicate that the total volume of crime in the Philippines decreased by about 57% from 2009 to 2012 (Philippine Statistics Authority, National Statistics Office [NSO], 2013, 2014). While this is a welcome development, the recent heist pulled off by the Martilyo Gang at SM Mall of Asia reminds us that crime remains a serious problem in the country. In fact, several other issues confront the Philippine criminal justice system which, if not addressed, would continue to impair the country’s ability to fight crime.

Crime Situation in the Philippines

Theft, physical injuries, robbery, and murder-homicide are the most common crimes committed in the country (NSO, 2014). The Revised Penal Code of the Philippines defines theft as the taking of another person's personal property without his or her consent. If the taking is attended by violence or intimidation of the person, or by use of force, it is called robbery. Physical injuries involve either the mutilation, wounding, beating, assault, or ill-treatment by deed of another person. Depending on attendant circumstances, the unlawful killing of another person may be classified as either murder or homicide.

CAR, NCR, and Region XI rank as the most crime-prone regions (Senate of the Philippines, Senate Economic Planning Office [SEPO], 2013). The country's capital, Manila, is located in NCR. While there has been a decrease in the national crime rate, crime rate in NCR has significantly increased (SEPO, 2013). The National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) named the following as the most crime-prone areas in NCR: (1) Baclaran-Parañaque-Pasay, (2) Cubao-Aurora-E. Rodriguez, (3) University Belt, Manila, (4) Monumento, Caloocan, and (5) Kalentong, Mandaluyong ("Where Are the Most Crime-Prone Areas in Manila," 2013). Mugging, pocket picking, purse snatching, and scams are common in these and other urban areas in the country.

The production, trafficking, and consumption of illegal drugs raise serious concerns. The Philippines continues to serve as a source or transit point in the illegal drug trade (United States Department of State, Overseas Security Advisory Council [OSAC], 2013). Transnational crime organizations exploit the geography of the country (its coastline is almost twice the length of the coastline of the United States), the weaknesses of Philippine law enforcement agencies, and the loopholes in its criminal justice system (OSAC, 2013).

Terrorists groups and criminal gangs continue to operate in many parts of the country. The communist New People’s Army (NPA) targets businesses and demands “revolutionary taxes.” They sabotage equipment and properties of unsympathetic businesses and kidnap government officials. They also attack military and police personnel (OSAC, 2013). Several rogue elements of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) – two armed rebel organizations that, at one point or another, had sought secession of Muslim Mindanao from the republic – still engage in bombings and other acts of terrorism to destabilize the government as well as kidnapping for ransom to fund their operations (OSAC, 2013). The Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF), a MILF splinter group, continues to confront Philippine military in Mindanao. The Abu-Sayyaf Group (ASG) still operates in Zamboanga and Sulu (OSAC, 2013).

Political violence is also rampant throughout the country, particularly during election periods (OSAC, 2013). This results from the culture of violence and the proliferation of unregistered firearms. The system of political patronage that was embedded during the colonial eras also brings about very intense electoral contests that often result in violent confrontations. Government officials are also known for not taking criticisms well. While the Philippines claims to have one of the freest press in Asia, several Filipino journalists have suffered intimidation, prosecution, assault, and even death because of their work.

Issues in the Philippine Criminal Justice System

The Philippines remains a developing country and, as such, its criminal justice agencies are perennially underfunded. This results in understaffing and inadequate training of personnel. Agencies also suffer from lack of resources to effectively fulfill their mandates.

The Philippine National Police (PNP) is the national police force of the country. It has about 150,000 police personnel. Its current police-to-population ratio stands at 1:620. While this is already an improvement from what it used to be, the figure remains far from ideal. Compared to its Southeast Asian counterparts, the figure is significantly higher (SEPO, 2013). For example, Indonesia has a police-to-population ratio of 1:428, Thailand has 1:304, Malaysia has 1:267, and Singapore has 1:142.

The National Prosecution Service (NPS) also lacks public prosecutors. After the police investigation, public prosecutors take over and investigate the case to determine whether probable cause exists. If they find probable cause, they prosecute the case by filing the information in the appropriate court. As of March 2014, however, the NPS has about 600 to 700 vacancies (“DOJ Still Lacks Prosecutors,” 2014).

Even the Philippine courts have been hard-pressed to fill vacancies. The first-level courts in the Philippine judiciary consist of the Metropolitan Trial Courts (MTCs), the Municipal Trial Court in Cities (MTCCs), and Municipal Circuit Trial Courts (MCTCs). These are all trial courts that exercise exclusive original jurisdiction of minor crimes, such as violations of city or municipal ordinances, offenses involving damage to property through criminal negligence, offenses punishable with imprisonment not exceeding six years irrespective of the amount of fine and other accessory penalties, and offenses punishable by a fine not exceeding P4,000.00. Regional Trial Courts serve as second-level courts and exercise exclusive original jurisdiction of offenses punishable with imprisonment exceeding six years irrespective of the amount of fine and other accessory penalties. They also exercise appellate jurisdiction of decision by first-level courts in criminal cases. In 2012, the vacancy rate for judges was at 26.23%, with a total 577 vacancies out of 2,199 available positions (Supreme Court of the Philippines, Public Information Office [PIO], 2012). Worse, the vacancy rate appears to be increasing every year (Bacani, 2013).

The understaffing of these agencies poses serious threat to public safety. It is difficult for the PNP to mount a timely response to every emergency if its force is stretched beyond capacity. Because of limited personnel, it is also constrained to prioritize cases to investigate. The lack of public prosecutors and judges likewise results in massive backlog of cases on the court system. The processing of a regular criminal in the Philippines – from the filing of information up to the promulgation of judgment by the trial court – could take anywhere from one to five years, sometimes even longer. Criminal defendants who are unable to post bail or accused of non-bailable crimes languish in jails for years while their cases remain pending in court.

Inadequate training of criminal justice personnel has also led to serious consequences. The world witnessed the incompetent handling of the August 23, 2010 hostage situation in Manila by members of the city’s SWAT unit. Eight hostages died in the incident. Lack of training has also been cited as one of the primary reasons for abuses committed by prison and jail officials (Alvior, 2004).

In 2012, the PNP reported a clearance rate of 36.67% (NSO, 2014). This means that only 4 out of 10 reported crimes are solved by the PNP. A crime is deemed solved when (1) the offender has been identified, taken into custody, and charged before the public prosecutor’s office based on sufficient evidence against the accused; (2) some elements beyond police control prevent the arrest of the offender, such as when the victim refuses to prosecute after the offender is identified, dies or absconds; or (3) the arrest of one offender can solve several crimes or several offenders may be arrested in the process of solving one crime. On March 19, 2014, the PNP launched an “idiot’s guide” to police operational procedures to remind police officers of the fundamentals of crime investigation (Dizon, 2014). This simplified manual discusses, among others, the need to preserve the crime scene and prevent contamination of evidence. In the case of the Vizconde massacre, the incompetence of some members of the PNP as well as the NBI came to the fore. First, the police officers who were first to arrive at the scene of the crime failed to preserve the physical evidence they found. As a consequence, physical evidence that could have linked the perpetrators to the crime was destroyed. Then, the semen samples collected from the victim – perhaps the single most important physical evidence that could have established the identity of her rapist/s through DNA analysis – was lost by the NBI.

Wrongful conviction in criminal cases is very common. In 2004, the Supreme Court reported that from 1993 to 2004, it modified or vacated 651 out of 907 criminal cases where the defendant was found guilty and sentenced to death by the trial court. This translates to an astounding error rate of 71.77% in capital cases (People v. Mateo, 2004). Two years after this report came out, Congress decided to abolish the death penalty.

Lack of funds has also been blamed for inadequate correctional facilities in the country. While the number of inmates has been increasing, the construction of additional prisons and jails has not been prioritized by the government. This has resulted in serious overcrowding in existing facilities. As of 2012, the total inmate population in the Philippines has reached 108,305 despite the fact that the entire corrections system can only accommodate 35,000 (International Centre for Prison Studies [ICPS], n.d.). Not surprisingly, the Philippines ranks as the fourth worst country in world for prison overcrowding (Golden, 2013).

In overcrowded prison setting, it is difficult to rehabilitate inmates and prepare them for reintegration to society. This leads to higher recidivism rate. Overcrowding also poses public health risks. Executive Director Antonio Acosta of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) explained that overcrowding turns prisons into breeding grounds for the spread of HIV and drug abuse, and into universities for crime. “This is bad for the prisoners and even worse for society when these people get out - turning them into ticking time bombs, with potentially explosive results for health and safety” (UNODC, 2009).

It is important to note that in the Philippines, 63% of inmates are pre-trial detainees (ICPS, n.d.). This means that they have not been convicted of any crime. Aside from the drawn-out legal processes, the limited use of computers hinders their timely release (Alvior, 2004). Documentation and monitoring of inmates’ status are generally done manually, which results in delay in the processing of inmates’ papers. It also makes coordination with other criminal justice agencies cumbersome (Alvior, 2004).

Corruption and misconduct among criminal justice personnel raises another concern. Reports of corruption and misconduct committed by members of the PNP, including high-ranking officials, are not uncommon. At one time, the U.S. State Department (2005) also described the PNP as “the worst abuser of human rights in the Philippines.” Prosecutors and judges are also known to transgress the bounds of propriety in the performance of their official functions. Justice Secretary Leila De Lima acknowledged the problem of corruption in the NPS when she ordered public prosecutors to clean up their ranks (Alcalde, 2012). Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno made a similar gesture when she called on lawyers to help purge the judiciary of “hoodlums in robes” (Avedaño, 2013). Even the justices of the Supreme Court have not been immune to accusations of impropriety and corruption.

To be sure, the problem of corruption is not limited to criminal justice personnel. Many Filipino government officials are known to abuse their position for their personal benefit. Some observers believe that this is a product of centuries of colonization.

With all these issues confronting the Philippine criminal justice system, it should not be surprising that crime remains a serious problem in the country.

____________________

1Sy, G. L. (2007, February 22). The issue we face is making the criminal justice system work. Manila Times.

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