Swift justice pushed for crime victims

MANILA, Philippines — UniTeam senatorial candidate Harry Roque proposed several reforms in the justice system to speed up justice for victims of heinous crimes and other offenses.

A human rights lawyer and former presidential spokesperson, Roque has been praised by President Duterte for prosecuting the Maguindanao massacre and Jennifer Laude murder cases.

Roque represented 19 journalists out of the 58 persons who perished in the 2009 massacre in Ampatuan town in Maguindanao. He secured a conviction against the perpetrators of the crime.

Roque is pushing for a Victims Compensation Fund and a ‘three-day’ court hearing rule as part of his legislative platform for the Senate.

“I would fuse my experience as a litigator in international and domestic courts with my stint as a lawmaker in the House of Representatives to improve the country’s justice system,” Roque said.

Roque recently discussed his justice advocacy with Duterte in the context of the government’s duty to preserve the lives and rights of the citizenry.

During the interview, Roque thanked Duterte, who was then Davao City mayor, for sending a helicopter to help local authorities like Buluan town vice-mayor Esmael Mangudadatu search for the victims at the crime site. Mangudadatu’s relatives were among the murder victims.

“We should learn from the Maguindanao massacre case, particularly giving immediate legal remedy to murder victims. The case has been ongoing for almost 13 years,” Roque said.

“It is unjust and unacceptable that the court trial lasted for 10 years before the perpetrators got convicted. The case has been on appeal for almost three years, which means the victims have not received civil damages,” he added.

Under the Victims Compensation Fund, the state would directly indemnify victims of crimes based on compensatory jurisprudence for a loss of life. The convicted suspect would be required to reimburse the civil damages to the government.

The ‘three-day court hearing’ rule would make it mandatory for all courts to resolve cases within three days. This would bring back the ‘inquisitorial system’ during the Spanish occupation of the Philippines.

Roque said the ‘inquisitorial system’ would allow court judges to gather evidence of a case. The system cuts down the lengthy cross-examination process of witnesses and pieces of evidence.

Roque recounted attending a court hearing between a Filipina and a Swiss national in Bern, Switzerland, wherein the judge settled the case in just one day.

The court judge was the one who gathered the evidence and asked the clarificatory questions. All testimonies came in affidavit form.

“Given the country’s continuous trial of criminal cases rule, we propose to legislate the ‘inquisitorial system’ to speed up the justice process,” Roque said.