Diokno scores slow resolution of corruption cases against influential people

Senatorial candidate Chel Diokno scored Tuesday the alleged slow grind of justice in the country when it comes to corruption cases, especially those involving influential personalities.

Diokno, a human rights lawyer, even described the delay as “mockery of justice.”

“I am extremely alarmed by the slow pace of our justice system when it comes to corruption cases, particularly those against powerful people. Why are these cases taking so long to be decided and enforced?” he said in a press statement.

Diokno made the statement following Sandiganbayan’s order to various registrars of deeds to transfer to the government the ownership of seven properties that were part of the ill-gotten wealth of the Marcoses and their alleged cronies.

In a resolution on Friday, the anti-graft court’s 2nd Division directed the cancellation of the titles of the following properties registered in the names of Alfonso Lim and Taggat Industries, Inc. and to issue new ones in the name of the Republic of the Philippines:

• four in Claveria, Cagayan: 8.1 hectares, 6 hectares, 2 hectares, and 0.82 hectare
• two in Angono, Rizal: 4.96 hectares and 56.7 hectares
• one in Laurel, Batanas: 129.15 hectares

The court issued the order six years after a 2015 ruling awarded those properties to the government. In 1987, the Presidential Commission on Good Government asked the court to award these properties to the state through a forfeiture case it filed against the Marcos family and their alleged cronies.

“Corruption cases must be decided quickly because they go to the heart of accountability,” Diokno said.

“Corruption cases that take years to be decided make a mockery of justice,” he added.

Diokno currently heads the Free Legal Assistance Group (FLAG), a group that provides free legal aid to victims of abuse and poor Filipinos. He also established a free legal help desk during the pandemic to help address the legal problems of poor Filipinos who cannot afford to get the services of a lawyer.—AOL, GMA News