Presidential bets push for judicial reform, more lawyers, judges to speed up trials

Four presidential candidates on Friday pushed for judicial reforms, adding that there was a need to allocate a bigger budget in the country’s judicial system to speed up court trials.

During the CBCP Election Forum attended by Vice President Leni Robredo, former Defense Secretary Norberto Gonzales, labor leader Leody de Guzman, and Senator Manny Pacquiao, the presidential candidates bared their plans to speed up the process in courts including hiring more lawyers and justices.

“There are about a million backlog of cases in our courts, yun lang ha hindi pa yung mga bagong kaso," said Gonzales. "Kailangan natin ng 10,000 bagong abogado para pabilisin ang pagtingin sa mga kaso.

"Noong tinawag namin yung DBM (Department of Budget and Management), ang pwede raw po nating swelduhan ay 500 abogado kasi hindi kaya ang 10,000 kasi mahirap tayo, kulang sa budget.”

(There are about a million backlogged cases in our courts, not including the new cases. We need 10,000 new lawyers to review the number of cases. When we called the DBM, they said we could only pay 500 lawyers. We couldn't afford 10,000 because we don't have the resources, we didn't have the budget.)

“Nakausap ko ang isa sa mga justices, hindi lang naman sa dami ng abogado 'yan, nasa proseso din kung paano natin hinahawakan ang mga kaso sa bawat stages ng isang kaso. Kaya dapat tingnan natin 'yun,” he added.

(I talked to one of the justices. This isn't just about the number of lawyers, but also the process of how we handle cases at each stage of a trial. So we have to look at that.)

Gonzales said he also wanted to personally help the extra-judicial killing victims.

“Bumuo na po kami ng ng isang study group na nandoon ay mga one or two ex- justices ng Supreme Court at ilang abogado. Pinagaaralan na po ang proseso kung paano hahawakan ang mga kaso natin sa Pilipinas para mapabilis,” he revealed.

(We have formed a study group with one or two ex-justices of the SC and some lawyers. They are studying the process of how to handle our cases in the Philippines to expedite it.)

For his part, De Guzman said he wanted to resolve the social, political, and economic injustices to make it equitable for everyone.

“Dapat ang ma-resolve yung social injustice, political injustice, [at] economic injustice. Kailangan yun muna ang ma-address, ayaw ko ng maraming kaso. Maganda yung maonti ang kaso. At tingin ko yan ang magagawa natin. Kung mare-resolve yan at magagawa nating equitable sa lahat ang mga bagay na yan at hindi lamang sa mga malalaking kapitalista at bilyonaryo,” he explained.

(Social injustice, political injustice, and economic injustice must be resolved. That needs to be addressed first, I don't want many cases. It's good that there are few cases. And I think that's what we can do. If that can be resolved, we can make those things equitable for everyone and not just for the big capitalists and billionaires.)

“Pagna-resolve yan liliit na yung bilang na mai-involve sa mga kaso, kasi kung ikaw naman ay kumakain nang maayos, nakapag-aral ka, bakit ka naman gagawa ng krimen? Bakit ka naman magnanakaw? Magkaroon ng reporma sa sistema ng ating hustisya pabilisin yan, makaka-resolve yan,” he added.

(When that is resolved, the number involved in cases will decrease because if you are eating well, you are educated, why would you commit a crime? Why would you steal? Reform our justice system, speed it up, we can solve that.)

Meanwhile, Pacquiao agreed that there needed to be judicial reform, adding that there needed to be a sufficient and bigger budget allocation for the country’s judiciary system to speed up the handling of cases.

“Kailangan natin ng judicial reform. Reporma sa ating judiciary, pangalawa naghahanap tayo ng magandang hustisya sa atin, mabilis na hustisya sa atin pero ang pinakaproblema ay yung budget. Magkano lang ang budget ng ating judiciary, napakaliit lang,” he said.

(We need judicial reform. Reform our judiciary, secondly we are looking for a good and fast justice system. But the biggest problem is the budget. How much is the budget of our judiciary? It's quite small.)

“The more na tumatagal yung kaso, the more na nagkakaroon ng negosasyon, nagkakaroon ng corruption. Talagang kulang tayo sa mga abogado, sa mga judge, walang budget. Ang sinasabi ko nga, magkano lang ang napupunta sa judiciary natin, yung portion ng budget taon taon wala pang 1% or 2% hindi umabot sa ganoon. Dapat kung naghahanap tayo ng magandang hustisya, kailangan dagdagan natin, kung pwede nga itriple pa natin,” he added.

(The longer a case lasts, the more there are negotiations, there is corruption. We lack lawyers, judges, and no budget. What I'm saying is, how much of the budget goes to our judiciary? The portion of the yearly budget is less than 1% or 2%, it doesn't reach that. If we are looking for an effective justice system, we must increase the budget, it is better if we can triple it.)

Robredo, for her part, said her response was based on her experiences as a lawyer in the Public Attorney’s Office, saying that it was important for the people to know their rights under the law.

“Mas dagdag na abogado, kailangan ma-attract mo yung best and the brightest lawyers na pumasok sa serbisyo. Yung pangalawa yung mahabang panahon ko as an alternative lawyer. Nakita ko roon yung kahalagahan ng page-educate sa tao ng karapatan niya under the law,” she said.

(More lawyers, you need to attract the best and the brightest lawyers to enter the service. During my long time as an alternative lawyer, I saw the importance of educating people of their rights under the law.)

“Kapag ang tao alam niya yung karapatan niya under the law he will be in the position to fight for his rights kasi talagang accessibility eh. Maraming lugar walang abogado dedepensa sa kanila,” she added.

(When a people know their rights under the law, they will be in a position to fight for their rights because it's accessible. There are many places where there are no lawyer to defend you.)

Robredo also agreed with the other candidates that there needed to be judicial reform, noting that there was a lack of budget in the judiciary system.

“Yung judicial reform kailangang kailangan, andaming vacancies hindi ma-fill up. Kulang yung budget na binibigay sa kanila,” she added.

(Judicial reform is needed, and many vacancies are not filled up. The budget given to them is insufficient.)

— DVM, GMA News