CTALK By Cito Beltran
Updated January 05, 2009 12:00 AM
There was a time when a man or woman who held the title of Fiscal or Prosecutor was treated with honor and respect. But today the title or the profession has been subjected to so much criminality and abuse that a number of Fiscals or Prosecutors may just as well call themselves Pimps who have prostituted the Lady of Justice.
Not all Fiscals or Prosecutors are bad, in fact most of them do heroic work being under paid and constantly exposed to unhappy complainants or even death threats. But it takes only a few to ruin an honorable profession and that exactly is the state of affairs right now for all Fiscals and Prosecutors.
For many years, people have expressed many things about Fiscals or Prosecutors ranging from disappointment to down right derision. But because fiscals are not as sensational as “Rogues in Robes” or not as political as brown bagged Appeals Justices, the corrupt or the incompetent Fiscals and Prosecutors have literally gotten away with murder, drug pushing, prostitution, bigamy, child abuse etc.
They have stayed below the radar by acting as the most evil of fixers who can do the following:
They can dismiss a complaint outright because: they don’t like the complainant, like a Contra-bida Actress who sued a businessman in Makati for damage to property when the guy rammed her car.
They can dismiss a case because the defendant is a businessman being sued by a Contra-bida Actress because the defendant also happened to be the son of an influential Congressman (retired).
They can dismiss the case because a High Finance Lawyer paid them as little as P5,000 or as much as 20 million because the clients are celebrities or rich kids, or a politician or cabinet member.
To be fair, some of these pimps still maintain some measure of professional hypocrisy by pretending to have worked on the case. They actually process the case but personally tutor the incompetent lawyer on what to do and how the case will proceed. It is here where “for a price” a case that is non-bailable is actually made so weak that; the defendant is allowed to post bail.
This is done directly or indirectly by intentionally and again “for a price” DOWNGRADING a case. So a non-bailable case such as Murder is reduced to homicide, illegal recruitment becomes estafa, drug pushing becomes possession, kidnapping for ransom becomes collection of dormitory fees (joke).
I learned from one of my favorite lawyers (I like some, not all) that the most cruel of these fixers are those who even put up a charade of a legal case. The Fixer-Prosecutor intentionally files a case so weak that even the strongest legal Viagra would not make it stand in court!
In local parlance: “Ni-laglag ng Fiscal ang kaso” or the Prosecutor sold out.
So under a judicial review, a Prosecutor would have to be caught red-handed with P20 million before we can nail him to the cross. Otherwise the most corrupt of Prosecutors will merely suffer the humiliation or the stress of a review, a reprimand, or maybe by a miracle, might be suspended. Otherwise it’s all a matter of “their word against mine”.
In some very sensitive cases, or when a complainant is initially hot on the case like the murder of a father or relative, the Fiscal or Prosecutor goes through the legal process of filing the case and their recommendations. But they do this with deliberate and methodical delay until the hurt and the anger of the complainant cools down and a Motion for reconsideration can then be filed when the other party has just about given up or has been “Areglado, areglo or fixed”.
So it is not true that Justice in the Philippines is slow, we are merely made to believe that it is slow by the people who are trying to buy time to fix or pimp for the lady of Justice.
PDEA’s cry for justice
The controversy that now involves the PDEA and the Department of Justice is not just a matter of perception, as a State Prosecutor would like us to believe. The fact of the matter is that thousands of Filipinos have fallen victims to the substandard quality and integrity of many Prosecutors now under the Department of Justice.
It is one thing to be a Department more prominent for “obstruction of Justice” on political issues, but when the safety, security and rights of citizens are perennially compromised and prostituted, it now becomes necessary to raise the sword as well as the scales.
We must now work together to place all city and state Prosecutors under performance and integrity review. It is now time to call for a lifestyle check on both philandering and morally compromised prosecutors before we allow them to stand as the first to Judge over our rights to fair and equal justice.
In the same manner we must demand, lobby, or pressure Malacañang and our local officials to raise the requirements for Fiscals both in expertise and compensation. Pay for competence instead of being victimized by incompetence and corruption!
While you read this article, you might think it is none of your concern. But wait until you get into an accident, until you become the victim of a crime, or until some public official who stole the taxes you paid laughs all the way to the bank because his or her Prosecutors “fixed” the case.
If you know a competent and trustworthy prosecutor tell people about them, praise them for their dedication and sacrifice. Otherwise, let us all stand up against the corrupt and the incompetent who have managed to get away for too long.
PS: BUY FILIPINO MADE PRODUCTS & GOD BLESS YOU.
There was a time when a man or woman who held the title of Fiscal or Prosecutor was treated with honor and respect. But today the title or the profession has been subjected to so much criminality and abuse that a number of Fiscals or Prosecutors may just as well call themselves Pimps who have prostituted the Lady of Justice.
Not all Fiscals or Prosecutors are bad, in fact most of them do heroic work being under paid and constantly exposed to unhappy complainants or even death threats. But it takes only a few to ruin an honorable profession and that exactly is the state of affairs right now for all Fiscals and Prosecutors.
For many years, people have expressed many things about Fiscals or Prosecutors ranging from disappointment to down right derision. But because fiscals are not as sensational as “Rogues in Robes” or not as political as brown bagged Appeals Justices, the corrupt or the incompetent Fiscals and Prosecutors have literally gotten away with murder, drug pushing, prostitution, bigamy, child abuse etc.
They have stayed below the radar by acting as the most evil of fixers who can do the following:
They can dismiss a complaint outright because: they don’t like the complainant, like a Contra-bida Actress who sued a businessman in Makati for damage to property when the guy rammed her car.
They can dismiss a case because the defendant is a businessman being sued by a Contra-bida Actress because the defendant also happened to be the son of an influential Congressman (retired).
They can dismiss the case because a High Finance Lawyer paid them as little as P5,000 or as much as 20 million because the clients are celebrities or rich kids, or a politician or cabinet member.
To be fair, some of these pimps still maintain some measure of professional hypocrisy by pretending to have worked on the case. They actually process the case but personally tutor the incompetent lawyer on what to do and how the case will proceed. It is here where “for a price” a case that is non-bailable is actually made so weak that; the defendant is allowed to post bail.
This is done directly or indirectly by intentionally and again “for a price” DOWNGRADING a case. So a non-bailable case such as Murder is reduced to homicide, illegal recruitment becomes estafa, drug pushing becomes possession, kidnapping for ransom becomes collection of dormitory fees (joke).
I learned from one of my favorite lawyers (I like some, not all) that the most cruel of these fixers are those who even put up a charade of a legal case. The Fixer-Prosecutor intentionally files a case so weak that even the strongest legal Viagra would not make it stand in court!
In local parlance: “Ni-laglag ng Fiscal ang kaso” or the Prosecutor sold out.
So under a judicial review, a Prosecutor would have to be caught red-handed with P20 million before we can nail him to the cross. Otherwise the most corrupt of Prosecutors will merely suffer the humiliation or the stress of a review, a reprimand, or maybe by a miracle, might be suspended. Otherwise it’s all a matter of “their word against mine”.
In some very sensitive cases, or when a complainant is initially hot on the case like the murder of a father or relative, the Fiscal or Prosecutor goes through the legal process of filing the case and their recommendations. But they do this with deliberate and methodical delay until the hurt and the anger of the complainant cools down and a Motion for reconsideration can then be filed when the other party has just about given up or has been “Areglado, areglo or fixed”.
So it is not true that Justice in the Philippines is slow, we are merely made to believe that it is slow by the people who are trying to buy time to fix or pimp for the lady of Justice.
PDEA’s cry for justice
The controversy that now involves the PDEA and the Department of Justice is not just a matter of perception, as a State Prosecutor would like us to believe. The fact of the matter is that thousands of Filipinos have fallen victims to the substandard quality and integrity of many Prosecutors now under the Department of Justice.
It is one thing to be a Department more prominent for “obstruction of Justice” on political issues, but when the safety, security and rights of citizens are perennially compromised and prostituted, it now becomes necessary to raise the sword as well as the scales.
We must now work together to place all city and state Prosecutors under performance and integrity review. It is now time to call for a lifestyle check on both philandering and morally compromised prosecutors before we allow them to stand as the first to Judge over our rights to fair and equal justice.
In the same manner we must demand, lobby, or pressure Malacañang and our local officials to raise the requirements for Fiscals both in expertise and compensation. Pay for competence instead of being victimized by incompetence and corruption!
While you read this article, you might think it is none of your concern. But wait until you get into an accident, until you become the victim of a crime, or until some public official who stole the taxes you paid laughs all the way to the bank because his or her Prosecutors “fixed” the case.
If you know a competent and trustworthy prosecutor tell people about them, praise them for their dedication and sacrifice. Otherwise, let us all stand up against the corrupt and the incompetent who have managed to get away for too long.
PS: BUY FILIPINO MADE PRODUCTS & GOD BLESS YOU.
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