Gilbert Teodoro

Allegations of human rights violations are a big concern. We admit that those allegations of human rights violations affect us. We cannot find immediate solutions because we lack the investigative capacity in the NBI and the police. Equipment and facilities to solve crimes is very expensive. We want to solve crimes but we do not have much evidence or we cannot process evidence. This is why our focus instead is against the fight against criminality and organized criminal groups. To our credit, extra-judicial killings and disappearances went down by as much as 80%. The solutions are first, we must make known to the men in uniform that getting involved in crime is counter-productive. Second, if there is evidence, we must litigate immediately and penalize those that are guilty. We have already put in jail a lot of these people. And third, we must invest in investigative agents and techniques so we do not investigate ourselves if there are allegations. There must be another agency.

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Francis Escudero

Unang-una, sa tingin ko ay dapat nating balikan at pag-aralan mabuti ang report ng Melo commission noong 2007. Batay sa pag-aaral ng Melo commission, sangkot ang militar at kapulisan sa ilang kaso ng pagpatay sa mga miyembro ng mga legal na makakaliwang organisasyon, pati narin ng ilang mga taga-media. Hindi ako naniniwala na ang mga sundalo, sa kanilang indibidwal at personal na pagdidesisyon, ay papatay ng mga taong nagpapahayag ng galit laban sa administrasyong Arroyo. Ang kailangan lang nating alamin ay kung kanino galing ang direktang utos upang pumatay.

Dapat ding pag-aralan ang pagkakaroon ng batas na magpapatupad ng strict responsibility pagdating sa chain of command. Sino mang superior na government official, military o pulis na nag-utos, o may alam tungkol sa pagkakasangkot ng kanyang mga tauhan sa extra judicial killings at binalewala lamang ito, o hinayaan lamang niya na magpatuloy, ay dapat ring parusahan. Dapat lagi’t laging ipaalala sa AFP ang kanilang tungkulin, yun ay ang protektahan ang taong-bayan at hindi kung sino ang nasa kapangyarihan.

Pangalawa, magtayo ng mga special courts, na independent – hindi sakop ng AFP o ng executive – na siyang mag-iimbestiga at kakalap ng impormasyon tungkol sa mga inirereklamong kaso ng extra-judicial killing. Kailangang may maparusahan – ikulong ang sinumang mapatunayang may kinalaman sa mga pagpatay. Hindi lamang dapat ikulong yung kumalabit mismo ng baril, kundi pati na ang mastermind. Gawing high-priority cases at paglaanan ng panahon. Malakas ang loob ng mga pumapatay dahil hanggang ngayon ay wala pang naikukulong dahil sa extra judicial killings.

Isa pang dapat bigyang- pansin ay ang witness protection program sa bansa natin. Sa kasalukuyan kasi, kung sino pa ang witness ay siya pa ang kinukulong habang ang mga taong may kasalanan ay nasa pwesto parin. Kailangang pagtibayin at palakasin ang pagbibigay proteksiyon sa mga witnesses para hindi sila matakot na lumabas at magsabi ng kanilang nalalaman. Dapat nating maintindihan na mahirap ang pagiging saksi, lalo na sa mga kaso ng extra judicial killings, o kahit sa ano mang krimen. Meron laging takot na pwede kang balikan, lalo na kung ang taong yun ay may pera at nasa kapangyarihan.

Francis Pangilinan

Social justice will not happen unless we punish more and we punish swiftly. It takes 6 long years on average for a case to be decided upon in the first level courts. This is too long. This is totally unacceptable. With the increase in budgetary support for the judiciary, our courts through the leadership of the Supreme Court, must endeavor to reduce the average life span of a case that remains pending before our courts. We should be able to create more courts, appoint more judges, and fill up vacancies in the judiciary. If we’re able to do these, the life span of a case on average should be reduced to 2 years maximum.

We must modernize our Judiciary and provide it with the necessary resources to do so. The Judiciary Executive Legislative Advisory Council (JELACC) was created in 2007 precisely to address the budget woes of the Judiciary. The Philippine Judiciary receives a measly sum of less than one percent of the national budget. The remaining 97 plus percent goes to the Executive department while some 2 percent goes to the Legislative Department. The bulk of the funds are with the Executive.

By upping the budget of the Judiciary to say 2 percent of the 1.17 trillion national budget we give rise to the swift dispensation of justice, the creation of more courts, construction of justice halls, the filling up of vacancies of existing courts, the augmenting of the compensation and benefits of judges, prosecutors and court personnel. Through the JELACC, the budgetary target of 2 percent or in real terms some 20 plus billion pesos can be achieved within a period of 6 years or within the term of a sitting president.

We should also legislate a bill granting the Commission on Human Rights prosecutorial powers. By doing so, it serves as an ancillary department to the Judiciary as opposed to what it currently serves as—a mere watchdog.

When more cases are tried and tried swiftly, respect for the rule of law will return. It is the certainty of punishment that instills fear and respect for our laws. It is the task of the Justice system to ensure that the conviction rates are upped.

Manny Villar

The government must initiate the appropriate measures needed to stop extra-judicial killings in the country. The following are the concrete steps I want to initiate and which incidentally are reflected in some of my pending legislation in the Senate: 1. I want the establishment of a Council for Missing Person and Involuntary Disappearance. The agency will be a round-the-clock entity especially tasked to handle numerous cases of missing individuals and those that may have been summarily executed. 2. I want the full implementation of the “No Justice Delayed, No Justice Denied” policy --- that would mean improving the judicial system so that justice will be served swiftly. The same can be achieved by (1) assigning sufficient prosecutors and investigators to such cases (2) moving trials to safe and impartial venues (3) protecting witnesses, and (4) provide high-level political will for all these efforts. Similar to the Doctors for the Barrios Program, I want a Lawyers for the Barrios Program commenced so that ordinary citizens will have immediate access to justice and that local disputes will be resolved soonest.
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