We need more prosecutors and judges to give justice for children

THIS is a story of victory. There was a child, Audrey (not her real name), who suddenly remembered how she was sexually assaulted by her uncle when she was 7 years old. She buried the memory of the assault and the pain it caused deep inside her. It was her secret. She was scared by his threats to kill her if she told anyone. He thought he got away with it.

Audrey was in class one day when the teacher and her fellow students were discussing children’s rights and sexual abuse. She reacted emotionally to the discussion: the memory and pain of her uncle’s sexual assault that she had buried for so long made her burst into tears. The teacher brought Audrey to the guidance counselor, a former staff member of the Preda Foundation, who knew what to do. Accompanied by a local government social worker, they brought Audrey to the Preda home for abused children.

At Preda, she was empowered to deal with the trauma. Then, with the hope of attaining justice, she bravely filed with the prosecutor a legal complaint with details of the time and place of the assault and how it happened.

For victims of sexual abuse, once the memory of it comes back, it can be as clear as if it only happened yesterday. But there was a long delay with the prosecutor. It took many months and representation by Preda social workers before the prosecutor finally decided in favor of Audrey, and her case was brought to court.

Long delays favor the accused. The defense lawyers used delaying tactics, hoping Audrey would give up because of “fatigue.” Paying off her parents to get her to drop her complaint was not possible because she was safe in the Preda home.

There were many more stressful days of hurt and pain as Audrey and many more children waited for their day in court, but it seemed it would never come. Was it the delaying tactics of the defense lawyers that the judge favored and allowed? We can never know. After a year and three months, Audrey finally testified. Her testimony was strong and detailed. The accused only had his denial as a defense and could not overcome her testimony.

The question that everyone was asking was: Why it took so long? Almost two years have passed since Audrey filed the complaint when she finally took the witness stand. Other cases take longer than three years before the judge would decide. Justice delayed is justice denied, they say, but who is failing in their responsibility? The courts? No, not really.

In some cases, yes. However, the family court is overloaded. Judges there work nonstop and have too many cases to deal with, such as adoption, reconciliation of spouses, family controversy, petitions for guardianship, custody of children and habeas corpus, among many others. Too few prosecutors and judges are qualified and trained to do the job. The most important task of the judiciary and the executive branch of this beautiful country is delivering justice to suffering children who deserve it.

Some children get justice quickly in the courtrooms of fast-moving judges. But in others, they wait for many years. One of the most important tasks of the judiciary and the Department of Justice is delivering swift, speedy justice for sexually abused and assaulted children.

These children are the most vulnerable and the most hurt. They suffer the longest and are the most neglected and ignored. There were times in the past when child rape and sexual assault was a dirty secret never revealed and instead brushed under the proverbial carpet; it was almost socially accepted. It was, for millions of people, a heinous crime and a fact of life before the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) existed.

This writer was a Philippine delegate to the convention in Helsinki, Finland, which wrote the final draft of the UNCRC. It was drafted mostly by nongovernmental organizations and approved on Nov. 20, 1989. It entered into force in September 1990. Afterward, each nation had to craft its own child protection laws based on the charter.

The Philippines may have strong, well-crafted laws and a proud legal profession, but these are not enough to implement the laws effectively, as there are too few judges and prosecutors. It is a serious problem, and it is unacceptable when justice for a raped child can take three years. It is the sworn duty of the executive branch to remedy this serious failure to prepare, train, and preselect and appoint just, honest, educated prosecutors and judges.

I will leave you with the comments of eminent professor Raymund E. Narag, who has some very impressive figures:

“As of January 10, 2024 data from Trial Court Locator of the Philippine Supreme Court, there are 2,741 courts nationwide. Of these, 2,033 are occupied by a sitting judge (74.17 percent), 526 are vacant (19.19 percent), 122 are unorganized (4.45 percent), and 60 are newly created (2.19 percent). This means that [one] in every [four] courts do not have assigned judges. On top of these, interview data shows that there could be a similar number of vacancies among public prosecutors and the Public Attorney’s Office (PAO).

“Thus, the number of court vacancies where either a judge, a public prosecutor, or a PAO lawyer is not fully designated to a particular court branch could be as high as 50 percent. This is a major problem that affects the administration of justice and leads to tremendous negative outcomes such as the delay in hearings, jail and prison congestion and violence, high recidivism rates, and a huge cost of running the criminal justice system. In many anecdotal cases, judges’ positions are vacant for [four to six] years.”

The professor outlined the solution:

“One of the major culprits to this problem is the delay in the appointments of judges, public prosecutors, and Public Attorney’s Office by the Office of the President. The Office of the President must seriously consider this as a top priority and, in coordination with the Supreme Court and the Department of Justice, must devise mechanisms on how to recruit, select, appoint, and promote criminal justice actors efficiently and meritoriously.”

The Philippines has a challenge ahead of it, and with great judicial minds, it can greatly improve its standing in the world for effectiveness. At present, the Philippines, with a score of 0.46, ranks 100th out of 142 countries in the WJP Rule of Law Index 2023. In the East Asia and Pacific region, Manila ranked 13th out of 15.

These are the facts. They stand as the challenge facing the executive branch of government at present, and it is never too late to make amends and make the nation proud by showing that the Philippines can have the swiftest and most honest judiciary of integrity anywhere. We just have to work together for the nation and especially the abused children who hunger and thirst for justice.