Life - the good, the bad and the ugly.

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–>

Access of the Poor to
Justice

in an Elite-Dominated
Constitutional

Government and Society

 

Romeo T. Capulong

 

 

 

 

 In his speech on

June 30, 2008

on the topic of our
forum this morning, our keynote speaker, Chief Justice Reynato S. Puno, noted
that “the poor complain that the playing
field in our justice system is tilted against them.” He attributed this complaint to a variety of
reasons, one of which is that judges “decide
cases without considering their social context.”  Allow me to add my piece to this keen
observation by saying affirmatively that this complaint is true and
unquestionably supported by empirical data and experience. This is particularly true in the struggle of
poor Filipinos against economic, social and cultural injustice.

 

 My topic in the program is to define
the framework of this struggle from the perspective and aspirations of the
oppressed and exploited poor under the prevailing economic, social and cultural
order or, more appropriately disorder, to borrow the terminology of a perceptive
political analyst. At the outset, I wish
to make it clear, that just like the other participants, I am keenly aware of
the limitations of the rule-making power of the Supreme Court to widen the
access of the poor to our justice system. But at the same time, I think we can now agree that our discussions and
proposals cannot be confined to procedural issues and remedies. And to achieve what I consider as our minimum
objective of identifying the barriers to the poor’s access to justice and their
causes and remedies, we can set aside the fine distinction and lump together
both procedural and substantive matters. In fact, our thesis should be to make all the three branches of
government under the tripartite system work together to address this fundamental
problem of inadequate and, in most cases, lack of access of the poor to redress
injustices committed against them by the rich and the powerful.

 

 We all know that we live and suffer in
a stratified society and under a government that is dominated by a tiny
elite. This tiny elite has a monopoly of
political power and economic resources which they use and often abuse to tilt
the scales of justice in their favor. We
have a long history of anti-colonial and neo-colonial struggle against foreign
domination, particularly against the

United States

, transnational corporations
and multi-lateral institutions whose means and machinery of control are
increasingly becoming more sophisticated and effective.

 

 We are endowed with rich natural
resources but millions of Filipinos are mired in deep and widespread poverty
under a system characterized by a backward, agrarian and pre-industrial economy
that serves the narrow interests of foreign and domestic elites. We have not been allowed to develop as a
people and to chart our own future. An
overwhelming majority of our people continue to be disenfranchised and
victimized by human rights abuses, oppression and exploitation. Our elections are a farce in which the people
are given the illusion that they are participating in a meaningful
process. In reality, they are not being
offered real choices in terms of adopting a pro-poor and pro-Filipino program
of government and choosing leaders who will represent their genuine interests. Our electorate are being deceived, taught and
induced to sell their votes, cheated, intimidated or sometimes killed. We have been electing to office different
factions of the Filipino elite alternating in power in a vicious cycle of
self-interest, mutual accommodation, constantly shifting personal and political
loyalties and dynasty-building. The
result is a government that is perennially unable to provide the most basic
needs of the poor in health care, education, shelter and livelihood.

 

 I venture the view that this, in
brief, is the social context suggested by Chief Justice Puno in understanding
the problems of the judiciary and the variety of reasons why justice and equity
for the poor in their true meaning remain “an
ideal that is far from the reality of their everyday lives.”  I respectfully submit that the bench and the
bar as well as policy-makers should have as their guiding and over-riding
principle the foregoing social context in the following cases and conflicts
involving the poor:

1. The peasants in their struggle for genuine land
reform and their legal battle against land-grabbing and eviction in the name of
so-called development by land-grabbers masquerading as property developers;

 

2. The workers in their struggle for decent wages and
working conditions and in their struggle to organize trade unions and
associations that empower them and represent their genuine interests;

 

3. The urban poor and informal settlers, oftentimes
disparagingly called “squatters,” in
the defense of their right against summary eviction and for adequate relocation
site, housing and livelihood;

 

4. The migrant workers in the defense of their human
rights under national and international law in the host country and in their
struggle against the apathy and callousness of their own government to their
problems as migrant workers and to the problems that beset their families in
the homeland;

 

5. The small fisherfolk in their struggle to defend
their fishing grounds against the intrusions of local and foreign fishing
magnates;

 

6.  The indigenous
people in the defense of their ancestral domain against land-grabbers and
local and foreign mining companies;

 

7. Political victims of violations of human, civil and political rights such as
extra-judicial killings, involuntary disappearances, torture, illegal arrests
and arbitrary detention committed by the state through its police, military and
paramilitary forces; and

 

8. The public in general on legal issues like
environmental protection and consumer rights.

 

 There is almost unanimity on the ills
that afflict our judicial system and the problems of the marginalized poor in
accessing this system to enforce or defend their economic, social and cultural
rights. I fully agree with the Chief
Justice that the following are seemingly insurmountable problems waiting for
immediate short-term solutions: “lack of knowledge of their rights under the
law, lack of resources to fight for their rights, exorbitant cost of justice,
lack or ineffective legal representation, delays in the dispensation of
justice, complex and incomprehensible legal procedure, anti-poor laws, judges
who decide cases without considering their social context, etc.” With due respect, may I add to this list
three major weaknesses and vulnerabilities that pervade and continue to
deteriorate in our courts and among the judges today. And these are: (1) bribery and corruption; (2) political and other forms of undue
pressure; and (3) our sub-culture of pakiki-sama and utang na loob.

 

 To be candid, the victims of these
judicial afflictions are generally the defenseless poor – those who belong to
the marginalized sectors I just mentioned who are forced to go to court either
to defend or to assert their economic, social and cultural rights
against formidable adversaries who have unlimited resources and the full
support of the government, including the military, police, local officials and
private armies.

 

 I believe that there are two ways of
addressing the multi-level barriers that impede the poor’s access to
justice. One is to consider simple
measures and remedies that are doable in the short term. Judging from the inputs of the first forum
and this forum, the concrete proposals have been comprehensive because they are
anchored on actual experience. The other
way of addressing these barriers is to examine scientifically their roots and
be part of the wider national struggle to dismantle these roots that afflict
not only the justice system but more importantly, the whole Philippine
society. I think no one will disagree
with the proposition that our problems in the judiciary, in the legislature, in
the executive branch, in the rest of our institutions and processes are
inextricably intertwined and will defy lasting solutions unless we dismantle
the prevailing unjust social and economic order and establish a truly free,
democratic and sovereign nation. And
this is the reason why, as a concluding part of my brief presentation, I only
have one concrete proposal which is not only both procedural and substantive,
but also fundamental and structural. With your permission, Honorable Chief Justice, colleagues and friends, without
sounding sarcastic or skeptical because I am coming to you with clean hands and
absolute sincerity allow me to propose in this forum the adoption and
promulgation not only by the Supreme Court but by our people of what I call the
writ of Andres Bonifacio.

 

Thank you.

August 28, 2008

.

 

 

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