Justice Reform Commission gustong likhain ni Pangilinan: ‘MAY KRISIS SA SISTEMA’

Ni Ernie Reyes

Gustong lumikha si Senador Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan ng isang Justice Reform Commission sa Kongreso upang balasahin ang buong sistema ng katarungan sa bansa sa gitna ng multi-bilhong flood control scam na sumalanta sa bansa noong nakaraang taon.

Sa pahayag, sinabi ni Pangilinan, chairman ng Senate committee on justice and human rights, na layunin ng congressional commission na suriin ang posibleng pagbabago sa sistema ng Hudikatura  na nakapaloob sa Senate Bill No. 1547.

Aniya, mayroong krisis sa sistema ng katarungan sa bansa kaya’t nangangailangan ng “extraordinary remedy” sa “extraordinary times.”

“If I may point out that, you know, this measure was introduced in the context of the unprecedented, the largest corruption scandal in the history of the Republic. And it was Chief Justice Puno who said, in another hearing, that extraordinary times require extraordinary remedies,” aniya pinakahuling pagdinig ng komite.. 

“And we would like to think the Congressional Commission on Justice Reform is precisely an extraordinary remedy, considering the magnitude of the wanton disregard for the rule of law displayed by the trillions of pesos worth of government funds,” dagdag ng senador.

Binanggit ni Pangilinan ang pangangailangan na suriin ang puwang sa justice system kaya mababa ang conviction rates at dumadami ang bilang ng kaso sa nakalipas na mahigit 20 taon.  

“In sanity, they say, doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. And if we are not going to delve deeper into the system of justice in our country and figure out what we should do differently, then the massive corruption will remain unabated,” giit niya. 

Nagsilbi si Pangilinan bilang isponsor ng badyet ng Hudikatura na nagpatingkad sa alokasyon sa ilalim ng 2026 GAA na palakasin ang institutional efficiency, bawasan ang case bvvacklogs at palakasin din ang mekanismo sa pagtatayod ng transparency at accountability sa justice system.

 Aniya, kumakatawan laman gsa 1.27% ng kabuuang P6.793 trilyong 2026 badyet ang pondong nakalaan sa Judiciary, P68.4 billion, Department of Justice, P42.8 billion, at   Ombudsman, P6.41 billion budget. 

“So that was an out of the box approach to addressing the budgetary support for the judiciary. But we’ve gone a long way. At that time, I think the budget of the Supreme Court was just 20 billion. Now it’s 68 billion,” ani Pangilinan.  

“But still, it’s only 1.27 percent. So, it’s this kind of thinking and this kind of intervention that we’d like to see in terms of the objective of modernizing and addressing the challenges and gaps in our justice system,” giit niya. 

Naniniwala si Pangilinan na kapag dinagdagan ang badyet ng justice system, hindi lamang magkakaroon ng modernisasyon ng sektor, kundi  “do its job right and efficiently.”

“SBN 1547 seeks to create a temporary, high-level commission to conduct a comprehensive, data-driven review of all five pillars of the justice system—law enforcement, prosecution, the judiciary, the correctional system, and the community,” ayon sa senador.

“The commission will be mandated to diagnose systematic failures in public accountability mechanisms, and come up with evidence-based recommendations for both legislative and executive action,” ayon sa panukala.