| 02 July 2009
U.S State Department's 2008 Country Report on Human Rights Practices in the Philippines said corruption and inefficiency in the judicial system have undermined human rights in the Philippines and caused "widespread skepticism of due process. In response, the Supreme Court admitted, on February 28, 2009, the slow pace of the country's judicial system as alleged in the US State Department report.
A SC spokesman attributed the problem to the lack of resources and the judicial structure itself. If our present judicial structure and system are flawed and have been for many decades, is it not high time to reform it? Our current president, Noynoy Aquino, seem to be serious in keeping his election promise to get rid of graft and corruption in our country. If this were so, he needs the people and the law by his side. But until our judicial system is reformed, Noynoy and succeeding well-meaning presidents will be powerless to effect significant graft "busting" changes in our country.
The Organizers of Philippine Jury Initiative (PJI or PhilJury) with the support from Overseas Filipino Workers and Filipino Residents worldwide believe that now is the time to raise the awareness of the Filipinos to one of the many solutions to our country's problems. We are advocating the incorporation of the JURY SYSTEM in our constitution because "juries are effective in shaping a nation's judgement and increasing its natural rights".
We admit that this is a protracted movement to rid our government of unjust and corrupt practices. But the long lasting effect of a jury system in the Philippine judiciary is a just and humane society where:
- people are free from fear of intimidation;
- the government is honest, transparent and accountable for its actions; and
- justice is served when it is due because justice delayed, is justice denied.
Our strategy is three-fold:
- To educate the Filipino people about the jury system;
- To lobby the Legislature to amend on the article of the judicial department in the constitution in connection with the implementation of the Initiative and Referendum Act; and
- When this is done, we will campaign for a referendum to incorporate the Jury System in our constitution.
Through our "SNOWFLAKE CAMPAIGN" among Filipinos in the Philippines, the UK and abroad wherever Filipinos work, we can gather support. They in turn will spread the word about the campaign to their friends and relations and create a ‘snowball effect’. We need at least 10M signatures in our petitions to amend our constitution. This will to prove to the Congress and all our leaders that the campaign is widely supported and that we all firmly believe that a Jury System will:
- Empower the Filipino people in the administration of impartial justice to everyone;
- Deter our leaders and government from graft and corruption;
- Enable the enforcement of our country's laws, hence prevent lawlessness and human rights atrocities; and
- Create a Judiciary that is independent and strong but not all-powerful as proven in progressive and truly democratic countries in the world.
We appeal to all Filipinos and their friends to support this initiative until the JURY SYSTEM is incorporated into our judiciary and becomes a law. It will ensure that THE GOVERNMENT REMAINS THE SERVANT, NOT THE MASTER, OF THE PEOPLE.