EDITORIAL - Speed it up

Debates continue on the wisdom of allowing live coverage of the trial of the defendants in the Maguindanao massacre. Broadcast networks are balking at the coverage rules, particularly the requirement for their cameras to stay glued to the trial from start to end of each day’s proceedings.

Defenders of the decision, including Malacañang officials who welcomed the Supreme Court order, believe live coverage of the proceedings would discourage anomalous deals that would allow the accused, particularly the main defendants, to get off with a slap on the wrist.

What must be avoided is the tendency of lawyers and members of the judicial system to preen for the cameras, which could further prolong what is expected to be one of the longest court trials in the nation’s history. One lawmaker has said it could take 200 years for the 57 confirmed victims of the 2009 massacre to get justice with finality.

Lawyers can be experts at delaying court proceedings, not only because the delays can benefit their clients but also because they can earn more for numerous court appearances. Such delays should be discouraged in this case. In a land where the rich and powerful usually get away with murder, literally, it is good that members of the once powerful clan accused of responsibility for the massacre have been arrested and are being held without bail. Members of the Ampatuan clan’s security forces have also been arrested and indicted, but hundreds more are still at large and capable of harassing and even eliminating crucial prosecution witnesses.

This case cannot be handled at the usual glacial pace of the Philippine criminal justice system. It is often said that justice delayed is justice denied. The trial of the accused in the Maguindanao massacre should not turn into a showcase of the weakness of the Philippine justice system.