By TOTO CAUSING, President, Hukuman ng Mamamayan Movement, Inc. (HMMI)
(This is my speech on Jury System delivered on May 15, 2010 (Saturday pm) before alumni (Batch 87) of Pasay City West High School and their teachers and principal, Ms. Lourdes Garrido.)

My dear countrymen in Pasay City:

LET US CHANGE OUR JUSTICE SYSTEM.

Our justice system has already been more than 100 years old yet we see our morality in decadence.

Our justice system has already been more than 100 years old yet we see killings done with impunity. Look at how they killed 57 people in the Ampatuan Massacre on November 23, 2009.

Our justice system has already been more than 100 years old yet corruption has become ordinary amongst us that it has become alright to give bribes as long as we get the permits and franchises we apply for, or as long as we win our cases before the judges and fiscals. But how do you feel if you are the one crying for justice and the oppressor bought the decision of the fiscal or the judge?

Our justice system has already been more than 100 years old yet we are powerless to punish influential people who wronged against us, like those mentioned in the NBN-ZTE scandal, in the Fertilizer Fund Scam and many others.

Let us examine our present justice system, look at its structure and nature, and decide whether you still allow it to stay for another hundred years.

We have a Prosecutor’s Office for ordinary crimes, the Office of the Ombudsman for work-related crimes of our public officials, and the Commission on Elections for election crimes.

These prosecutor’s offices are the ones who have the say who should be charged in court for crimes. But under the baton of the prosecutor’s offices, we have seen so many criminals went unpunished up to now or innocent people charged in court.

It is common knowledge among many observers, particularly the communities of lawyers, how vulnerable are our prosecutor’s offices to the power of money, influence or fear.

Thus, we have seen Ampatuans have reigned over the fiscals in Maguindanao by the power of fear that they have escaped all the crimes attributed to them for ten years.

For over a decade, it has been said that the Ampatuans have killed more than a thousand people, mostly ordinary Muslim residents who earned their ire. Some of their victims were killed by means of cutting bodies with the use of chainsaws in public plazas; so done to instill fear to all who dare to cross their paths, politically or otherwise. Even in Pasay City and elsewhere in Metro Manila, we have seen crimes not punished because of the power of fear or money.

On the other side, we have also seen innocent but powerless people being charged in court and arrested in the process because the prosecutor’s offices agreed to the wishes of those who filed cases against enemies even with fabricated charges.

Thus, there is no dispute that the fiscal system is very weak to bribery, influence and intimidation.

Look at our Ombudsman’s office. It is headed by one person with four deputy ombudsmen. But it is only one person, the Ombudsman or the so-called “Tanodbayan,” who decides whether to charge a public official or not.

Yes, we have seen lowly officials such as the mayors and councilors being charged and suspended by the Office of the Ombudsman. But we have yet to see a First Gentleman getting charged in the Sandiganbayan court, considering that Mike Arroyo is a former law classmate of Ombudswoman Merceditas Gutierrez. We have yet to see Joc-joc Bolante getting charged by the Ombudsman’s office despite the strong evidence to the contrary. We have seen how former Justice Secretary Hernani Perez escaped on technicality from the Impsa project bribery of One Million Dollars as exposed by former Manila Congressman Mark Jimenez; yet this technicality, which is delay in filing the charges, was intentionally caused by the Office of the Ombudsman.

Look at the Comelec on its power to charge persons for vote-buying, rigging of election returns and other election-related crimes.

Have you seen one person getting convicted because of election crimes? You can never see one because there has been none.

Perhaps, the biggest election crime ever committed on earth is the “dagdag-bawas” committed by then Commissioner Virgilio Garcillano and his cohorts. Until now, not one crime of vote-shaving and vote padding has been charged against Garcillano. This is because the commissioners who decide whether to charge Garcillano or not are appointed by the top ally of Garci. These commissioners have no independence to act according to their conscience and duties.

Thus, you have seen how weak are the fiscal system, the Ombudsman system and the Comelec system in deciding whether to indict crime violators or not. They all vow to money, power, influence and fear.

In the present justice system, those determined by the fiscal, the Ombudsman or the Comelec to be charged for criminal violations are then tried in our courts.

Our present trial courts, except for the Sandiganbayan, are handled by one judge for each. In the Sandiganbayan, three justices handle each Sandiganbayan sala.

If a criminal case that luckily or sadly reached the trial court, there is only one judge deciding the guilt or the innocence of the accused.

But why is it that many persons we believe as guilty escape conviction or the innocent convicted to suffer in jail?

There are a few reasons and I cite the relative ease to control the action of the judge, to control the presentation of evidence, and the usually long and tiresome trial that does not give meaning to the time-honored speedy trial demand or “justice delayed is justice denied.”

Because there is only one person judging the case, buy him out or intimidate him and you will win, as accused or as an accuser.

Because the trial takes too long, it opens the door to killing the witnesses as what happened in the Ampatuan trial where the backhoe operator who buried 35 of the 57 victims was killed. The slow trial also gives opportunity for witnesses or the complainants to be bought out. The same snail trial also gives opportunity to deal with the fiscals not to present damaging evidence so that the judge can acquit an accused on lack of evidence.

Thus, we have seen the ills and the weakness of the fiscal-judge system that has controlled the lives of the Filipinos for over a century.

Shall we allow this system to continue?

WE SHOULD PUT A STOP TO THE FISCAL-JUDGE SYSTEM AND CHANGE IT WITH ANOTHER THAT PROVIDES THE FAIREST TREATMENT TO ALL PEOPLE, RICH OR POOR, INFLUENTIAL OR NOT.

And what do we urge to you for you to support?

We urge you to stand up now and give all-out support to the so-called JURY SYSTEM.

We urge you to help us campaign so that people will know that this is the fairest-ever justice system invented by man.

We urge you to help us amend our Constitution by means of adopting the Jury System of justice.

The Proposition: JURY SYSTEM

It is INDISPENSABLE for the Philippines to adopt NOW the JURY SYSTEM OF JUSTICE to replace the more-than-century- old FISCAL-JUDGE SYSTEM.

Why?

JURY SYSTEM OF JUSTICE is the only justice system that can stop and reverse the monumental corruption committed from the top to the bottom of government hierarchy—regardless who the President is.

JURY JUSTICE SYSTEM is the only justice system that can stop and reverse the alarming occurrences of bold and brutal murders committed with impunity for political and other greedy purposes, and create the atmosphere of genuine rule of law, the fear of law.

JURY JUSTICE SYSTEM is the only justice system that can stop and reverse poverty, stop discrimination by the rich against the poor or by the dominant tribes against the Muslim Filipinos and other minorities.

JURY JUSTICE SYSTEM is the only justice system that can reverse the seemingly irreversible moral decadence contributed largely by our incompetent fiscal-judge system.

JURY JUSTICE SYSTEM is the only justice system that can stop the rampant “kotong” and “hulidap” operations by our law enforcers to bilk money in exchange for freedom.

JURY JUSTICE SYSTEM is the only justice system that can effectively fight “lagay” or bribery in our government offices for clearances, licenses, franchises and judgments or decisions in any case.

JURY JUSTICE SYSTEM is the only justice system that can ensure everybody behaves by the law because it instills fear that fiscals’ and judges’ decisions cannot be secured by money or terrorism for it is almost impossible to corrupt the “Fiscal” Jury and Trial Jury.

JURY JUSTICE SYSTEM is the only justice system that can compel the formation of a new behavior ripening into a tradition and culture among the citizens for them to act with justice, give everyone his due and observe honesty and good faith.

For it can cure the menaces stated above and compel the formation of new attitude of fear for the law among the people, JURY JUSTICE SYSTEM is thus the only justice system that can convince rebels to lay down arms and embrace a democratic system of government, either one of socialism or capitalism or a combination of both.

How the Jury System works?

The Jury Justice System being proposed by Hukuman ng Mamamayan Movement is composed of two bodies. The first body is what shall be called “GRAND JURY” and the second body shall be called “TRIAL JURY.”

1. THE GRAND JURY

The Grand Jury shall be composed of people chosen by raffle from the voters’ list for them to serve for six (6) months and they shall be replaced by another group of persons selected in the same manner. Replacement takes place every six (6) months.

The Grand Jury shall perform duties similar to the first major duty of fiscals or prosecutors or the Ombudsman that we know or the Comelec for election crimes. Instead of the present prosecutor’s offices, it shall be the Grand Jury that will have a say who should be charged or indicted in court.

Fairness is assured to both the innocent and the criminals because the Grand Jury cannot be dictated or bought on who to charge in court and who should be spared.

The Grand Jury cannot be bought or dictated because the Grand Jury will not reveal the names and the faces of the jurors sitting as the members of the Grand Jury. The fact that the members of the Grand Jury cannot be known, they will be independent in deciding every case coming to their exalted office.

The Grand Jury members shall be chosen at random from the list of voters and shall be required to have a minimum qualification of being a college level, but lawyers are disqualified.

Those chosen shall serve for six months only and replaced by another batch every after six months. They shall be conducting offices in a place secret to the public.

This therefore assures that the Grand Jury shall continuously be free of intimidation, threat, violence and bribery.

This also assures that the Grand Jury shall be composed of people with sufficient level of knowledge and discernment to know whether the charges are true or false.

On questions about law, the Grand Jury shall be guided by its own independent legal staff.

To increase assurance every crime is investigated, the Grand Jury shall have the power to conduct secret investigation and the power to imprison by contempt witnesses who refuse to testify and they shall be freed only when they agree to talk to the jury or the court.

The Grand Jury shall also be given the power to order law enforcers to investigate and gather evidence.

The Grand Jury shall also have the power to order the Armed Forces to assist policemen or agents of National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) in performing the duties ordered to be done by the Grand Jury.

Thus, with the Grand Jury in place, we can now avoid incidents like the Ombudsman acquitting or sitting on cases of corrupt officials or the Comelec not discharging duties to prosecute a Garcillano or Lintang Bedol who has been in hiding for rigging the elections in Maguindanao and the rest of Cotabato provinces.

The nature of its structure makes the Grand Jury firm against the influence of even the President of the country.

Then US President Bill Clinton of the United States did not escape investigation despite his insistence of immunity from suit.

Then US President Richard Nixon was forced to resign from the presidency before the Grand Jury could indict him on his crimes now known as the “Watergate Scandal.”

2. THE TRIAL JURY

The Trial Jury shall also be composed of people chosen by raffle from the list of voters.

Depending on the degree of threat, as in the case where warlords are the accused, the jurors shall be secured in a secret place and be shielded by a one-way mirror in courts during trials to ensure that the powerful accused cannot recognize their names and faces to protect the jurors and their families against retaliation.

The main function of the trial jury is to know the facts. The function of knowing what and how laws will apply shall be the duty of the judge, who shall sit as the presiding officer during the trial and shall instruct the jurors on legal matters.

With this system that the jurors are kept secret, it becomes difficult for the moneyed and powerful to buy decisions. For how can they do so when they would have no way of knowing who the jurors are.

Moreover, the judges are spared from danger because the accused knows that it is not him or her who made the judgment but the trial jury.

And when fairness is assured, the citizens are also assured the court will convict those who have committed ordinary, corruption and election crimes, even if he were the president, a wealthy person, a government official, a military or police official, or the most powerful in a community.

Jury System was born due to
corruption, brutality & impunity

On June 15, 1215, rebels in England led by nobles and barons defeated King John and compelled him to sign what was, and is, known as the Magna Carta.

The most substantive clause of the Magna Carta was giving the subjects or the citizens the right to be tried first and adjudged by their fellowmen or peers before they can be imprisoned or beheaded or deprived of property or freehold or liberty.

The establishment of the jury system in England deprived the King of the power to judge his subjects.

Before the signing of the Magna Carta, King John was so despotic, ruthless, corrupt and so brutal to the people he would suspect of defaming him or simply criticizing him.

It is interesting to note that due to his barbaric rule, the people of England found a way of expressing their dissent by means of telling fiction stories about Robinhood, the thief who would give his loot to the people, and that the villain in the said myth is King John.

Since the day Jury System began in England, English people lived a peaceful life. They no longer experience to be hanged just because the King or Queen decreed it so.

Since the signing of the Magna Carta, no more King or Queen became despotic or abusive and those who were punished by the jury were only those who were truly guilty.

Thus, Winston Churchill later said that there can be no government that will be abusive if there is a jury that exists.

When the United States of America (USA) was born on July 4, 1787 in Philadelphia, the leaders led by General George Washington made it sure that the jury systems were installed to ensure that the Whites would not discriminate against the Blacks and other races. Thomas Jefferson described the jury as the anchor by which the nation can hold together.

True enough, unity in the USA was fostered until such time discrimination has been reduced to a negligible extent, seeing Blacks shining in the fields of music, sports and politics: Kareem Abdul Jabbar and Magic Johnson as well as Michael Jordan in basketball, Oprah Winfrey in television talk shows, Michael Jackson in music, and Barack Obama in politics.

In all other countries that spun off from the Crown of England, such as Australia and Canada, jury systems were established right from the start. You can look at these countries as among the most developed in the world.

Actually, all countries that have embraced jury system are progressive, including those in Europe. Japan, South Korean and other Asian countries are also under jury system, although varied or modified in form.

Tool to stop abuse and impunity

Other than the Jury System, there is no other effective apparatus in stopping abuse and corruption usually committed by politicians and warlords.

As proven by time, since the birth of the Jury System on June 15, 1251 in England, the establishment and the operation of the Jury System completely stopped the abuse and impunity by the King.

The Jury System truly worked effectively as intended by the rebels when they forced King John to sign the Magna Carta. Although they were victorious and they could have killed or imprisoned or dethroned the king, the rebels allowed him to rule again as long as he signed the Magna Carta.

It is also the operation of the Jury System that has caused a stop to the major discrimination among the Whites against the Blacks and other colored people in the US. It also ensured that corruption is an exception and few, rather than as a rule and rampant as in the Philippines.

The White supremacists or the Ku Klux Klan members were punished by the jury for killing Black people. Eventually, the demands of conscience reigned because of the inherent power of the jury to compel the US government to dismantle segregation facilities: Where there were separate toilets for the Blacks and for the Whites, separate schools for the Blacks and for the Whites, separate bus seats for the Blacks and for the Whites, and many others.

The bottom line, due to its inherent strength against power and money influence, the system becomes very, very fair in judgments. As such, those who are in power and money will begin to fear the law because they know they cannot muscle down the Jury System.

Therefore, if it caused the stop of despotism by the Crown of England, it can also stop the abuse, brutality and thievery of politicians and warlords in the Philippines. It can also stop the discrimination being complained about by the Muslim rebels. It can also stop the class discriminations complained about by the red rebels.

Jury System can be established
even with strong corrupt culture

Even if the culture of corruption in the Philippines has become ingrained and deeply-rooted, Jury System can be established and operated successfully. As such, it is not correct for others to argue that this cannot be feasible. Actually, it should not be forgotten that Magna Carta was signed because of the extreme despotism by King John of England.

The fact that the jurors in the Jury System are kept secret and their names and faces are not disclosed to the public completely removes any opportunity to corrupt the members of the Grand Jury and the Trial Jury.

Upon the installation and operation of the Jury System, those who exist by the power of fear and money will immediately realize that they cannot use their money or influence to buy decisions of the Grand Jury and the Trial Jury.

They will realize that even if they could talk to all jurors, the corruptors and power wielders cannot buy all 23 members of the Grand Jury and all 12 members of the Trial Jury. They cannot do like what they do in the present system of fiscal and judge by giving money or threatening the fiscal or the judge to get favorable judgment.

The members of the jurors are strictly warned not to talk to anyone or among themselves while they are serving as jurors except to deliberate on their decisions.

Anyone caught will be imprisoned. After serving as jurors, they are also prohibited from telling anyone that they have served and their names in the records shall be removed to ensure that retaliation against them or their families are avoided.

Is Jury System effective against
the President who is corrupt?

The experience of the United States shows that its presidents are no match against the Jury System.

During the early 1970s, then President Nixon was compelled to resign rather than getting embarrassed by the Grand Jury investigating into his involvement in the so-called Watergate Hotel scandal.

So that after Nixon had resigned, he was charged or indicted by the Grand Jury in court. However, the succeeding president, Gerald Ford, pardoned Nixon even before the trial could begin. The act of Ford in pardoning Nixon caused his defeat in the hands of Jimmy Carter.

During the middle 1990s, then President Bill Clinton attempted to use his immunity from suit but the Supreme Court of the US said that any US president cannot be immune for any criminal investigation being conducted by the Grand Jury. Thus, the Grand Jury commissioned special counsel Star to do the investigation.

The Star investigation led to the impeachment case where Clinton was tried before the Senate.

If the Philippines only had a Jury System, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo could have not escaped from the $329-million NBN-ZTE scandal, along with her husband Mike Arroyo.

Ampatuan massacre could have not occurred
if there was already a Jury System

The massacre of 57 persons in Ampatuan, Maguindanao, including the brutal killing of 32 journalists and two lady lawyers, could have not have happened if the Philippines were already under the Jury System. This massacre was so brutal that the victims were even buried along with their vehicles.

The brutal massacre started with the first act of killing done by the killers. Because no one charged the killers in court right after the first act of killing, they killed some more to make it a habit for ten more years.

Since they were also not charged in court because the fiscals or prosecutors and the judges fear them, the killers became bolder each time they killed. They thought they would not be imprisoned anyway.

The killings became more brutal and bolder where some were even killed by means of chainsaw in public plazas. The chainsaw killing has been a circulating story among the locals in Maguindanao province.

If there was only a Jury System at the time of the first killing, the killers at that time could have already been in prison.

The said first act of killing for sure cannot escape the eyes of the Grand Jury and the Grand Jury can hail the killers to court right at the first killing because the members would never be afraid as their names and faces would be hidden from the public.

Then, the Trial Jury will never entertain fear or they cannot be talked to for money because, again, their faces and names are hidden from the public.

Are the Filipinos prepared
for the Jury System?

Yes, the Filipinos are fully prepared for the Jury System.

This is so because the Americans who founded the Jury system 222 years ago cannot be said to be more intelligent than the Filipinos of today.

The culture of hatred among the Americans at that time between the Whites and the Blacks is not present among the Filipinos of today.

Take note also that the Britons too had no knowledge about the Jury System when they started that system on June 15, 1215 yet it succeeded and it is still the system of justice today in all of the UK.

So that if the Jury System succeeded in Britain when the Britons started it without any knowledge about it, and at the time when their king was despotic, then it will also succeed when implemented among the Filipinos.

Additionally, it cannot be said that the Filipinos are emotional such that they cannot fulfill their duty to judge. This is a fallacious argument. There were many instances in the US that the suspects are Blacks and the murder victims are Whites and nothing can beat the emotions generated during their trials. Yet, the Jury System in the US has stood the tests of time.

Is Jury System expensive?

While the expenses needed to maintain Grand Juries and Trial Juries in all 79 provinces and 133 cities of the Philippines may reach P3 billion, the amount of money that would be saved because corruption would be stopped would even go to as far as P1 trillion.

Additionally, the same staff of the present court and prosecutor’s offices in the Philippines shall be absorbed and utilized. Therefore, only a much lesser amount would be additionally needed to pay the jurors who would serve.

Thus, there is no question that establishing and maintaining juries is very much feasible.

With Jury System, Filipinos are
safe whoever is the President

As demonstrated above that the Jury System is so difficult to threaten or be bought out, the Filipinos, particularly the poor and the underprivileged, would always be assured they will have a fair play before the bar of justice.

Political persecution under the Jury System cannot happen because the politicians cannot control or dictate the juries by reason of the fact that the faces and names of the jurors are hidden.

Moreover, even if the case is one where the safety of the jurors is at risk because of the influence and power of the accused, the jurors shall be empanelled or kept in a secret place until the case is decided.

Equally important, the Grand Jury acts on cases even if the complaint is dropped to drop boxes.

Very quick trial under Trial Jury

Based on the experience of the countries with Jury System, particularly in the USA, trial by jury lasts for one week on the average. If the case is simple, it lasts only for three days. If the case is complicated, the most it will last is five weeks as in the trial of OJ Simpson accused of killing his wife.

This is therefore an assurance that justice is handed quickly.

It is therefore an assurance that there would be no “JUSTICE DELAYED JUSTICE DENIED” incidents.

So that if Philippines is under the Jury System, it will not happen anymore that witnesses die before they can testify in court, resulting in acquittal of the accused.

Witnesses compelled to testify
under the Jury System

The Grand Jury and the Trial Jury being proposed by Hukuman ng Mamamayan Movement, Inc. (HMMI) shall be empowered with the contempt power to imprison witnesses who would refuse to testify.

As such, with Jury System in place, the Philippines can no longer see the common happening where witnesses refuse to testify for fear or for money or that the witnesses are relatives of the accused.

The contempt power of the Grand Jury and the Trial Jury shall be absolute so that both the direct and the indirect insults or acts of disobedience to the court can be punished with imprisonment by the Grand Jury or the Trial Jury right away.

The power to change Justice
System is in your hands

To change the justice system into the JURY SYSTEM only takes a petition by the voters, at least 12% of the total in the country with each legislative district represented by at least 3%. This is provided under the 1987 Constitution.

So that we are urging you to rise up, campaign for this system of justice and lead the signature campaign in your community.

SO JOIN US IN THE CAMPAIGN FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF JURY SYSTEMS.

THIS IS THE ONLY CHANCE OF OUR COUNTRY.

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reynz is one Uragon and a Filipino-American, has many years of public accounting & auditing, broadcast investments, housing tax credits and equity investments as his background. Based in the US, he maintains his personal and humor blog at reyna elena dot com. A graduate of Aquinas U, he went to GWU and Temple U in the United States.