The Philippine judiciary, the best system that money can buy

The Philippines has the best justice system that money can buy, according to Jose Almonte, national security adviser during President Cory Aquino’s term.

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It is not even a question of having good and pricey lawyers. It is about direct transactions with the judges or justices who can be depended upon to justify their decisions even if it means turning logical cartwheels and relying on technicalities.

Joseph “Erap” Estrada called the members of the judicial system “hoodlums in robes.” He coined the term back in 1993 when he was vice-president and head of the Presidential Anti-Crime Commission (PACC). He alleged that 80% of the cases filed in court by the PACC were dismissed summarily by corrupt judges.

In a strange turn of events, the members of the Supreme Court unanimously considered Erap “constructively resigned” as president of the Philippines on Jan. 20, 2001 solely on the basis of an entry in Executive Secretary Edgardo Angara’s diary that Erap had left Malacañang without indicating he was coming back. As if to avoid being dubbed by Erap as the “supreme hoodlums in robe,” the Supreme Court justices wore barong Tagalog instead of their traditional robes when they convened to declare the Office of the President vacant.

Corruption, influence peddling, and case-fixing in the judiciary have been acknowledged by practicing lawyers as the reality since the postwar years. Lawyers speak of judges with “open back door” — the point of entry to the judge’s chambers. The implication is that a favorable decision can be obtained not by a skillful presentation of the case before the judge in the open court but by enticements offered to the judge in their chambers or retiring room at the back of the court. Court decisions and temporary restraining orders have long been known to be for sale, earning for the judicial branch of the Philippine government the dubious reputation of being the best judiciary money can buy.

MUSINGS

OSCAR P. LAGMAN, JR.