A THESIS

PRESENTED TO

DEPARTMENT OF SOCIOLOGY

COLLEGE OF ARTS

POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILLIPINES

Mabini campus, Sta. Mesa, Manila

THE SOCIOLOGY OF JURISPRUDENCE

AN INQUIRY IN THE CRIMINAL LITIGATION IN THE PHILIPPINES:
WEALTH, PRESTIGE AND KNOWLEDGE/POWER COMPLEXES

(AN INITIAL EXPLORATION)

SUBMITTED BY:

EMMANUEL S. CALIWAN

ROMA JESSA C. PURPURA

NANNETTE B. GERONA

BS SOCIOLOGY
2009-2010
 RESEARCH ABSTRACT

Social stratification is a pervasive term in the discipline of sociology. As sociology study

and scrutinizes different kinds and forms of society it looks on how such society functions
and interacts not on the contexts of normality but on the contexts of “POWER
RELATIONS”. From here enters the sociological analysis of stratification. Taking into
account the findings of many sociologists that there is no society, no institution, nor
organization within the scope of historical data’s that is not stratified. The researchers focus
their attention to the age-old institution of social control what we now call-----THE
CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM. In addition, study and analyze its major component the
criminal litigation. Moreover, how social stratification affects these branches of the criminal
justice system particularly the court. This research aim to prove that our court, through its
criminal litigation, is a social construct that is not safe with the dynamics of power relations.
Further more we what to expose the truth behind the justice symbol that our country has as a
woman blindfolded. Which signify that the justice system we have does not look with the
social status one have? However, the contrary is true as you explore the thesis of this research
we are proving through the various methodologies that we use that our justice is a
TRANSACTIONAL JUSTICE. By applying the Weberian conception and theoretical
paradigm of stratification an expounded version of Marxist paradigm of power relation. And
of Foucaultian’s concept of knowledge/power complex and of panopticism. We would shed
light to this critical and worth venturing field of sociological inquiry

Key terms: Stratification, Power relations, Criminal justice, Litigation, Wealth, Prestige,
Knowledge/Power complex, Weber and Foucault, transactional justice.

2
 CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

A. RATIONAL FOR THE TOPIC

“In a time where lie pervades, telling the truth is a revolutionary thing”

-George Orwell.

Law permeates all realms of social behavior. Its pervasiveness and social
significance are felt in all walks of life. In subtle and, at times, not so subtle ways a
complex and voluminous set of laws governs our every action. Laws maintain the
status quo but also provide for necessary changes. Finally, laws, in particular
criminal laws, not only protect private and public interests, but also preserve order.
There is no end to ways in which the law has a significant effect upon our lives.

That is the main reason why the sociology of law is a needed lens for analysis.
Critically understanding how law operates within the society is the main task of the
sociology of law. The sociology of law touches a number of well-established areas
of inquiry. Such as values, interaction patterns, ideologies, norms, rules that
prescribe the appropriate behavior, nature of legitimate authority, the mechanism of
social control, power arrangements and the issues of justice in private and public

3
spheres. However to compartmentalize its critique and analysis it has in the process
of its evolution created a specialized subfield called as the sociology of
jurisprudence. In this research, we would venture in the specialized subfield of the
sociology of law to analyze the issue of justice and power relations in the litigation
in the Philippines.

Sociology of jurisprudence is a seemingly new and sacred field in the discipline

of sociology (here in the Philippines) for such only, few Filipino sociologists ever
step in the boundaries of two of the most distinctive yet overlapping field of the
discipline of law and society. (However, what is sociology of jurisprudence and
why is it worth venturing with? According to Steven Vago in his book Society and
Law, sociology of jurisprudence it is a specialized field within sociology that
critically analyzes the law in action compared to law written in books.) Yet there
are many and major pressing concerns that both sociologist and those in the legal
field should work hand and hand in solving. Social problems pervades our criminal
justice system we must accept the fact that change is very badly needed for us to
achieve a more humane surroundings and to achieve our goal of giving impartial
and real JUSTICE. Such is the major reason why this study is born. Particularly the
researcher is very much intrigued on the issue of social and criminological justice
that those person inside the criminal justice system experience. In addition, to solve
such dilemma the researcher puts forward the sociological notion of stratification
and its operation within the justice system. However, studying such complex and
multi-disciplinial institution the researcher focus on the most essential of its process
and function namely --------------------------- LITIGATION.

The thesis argument that we want to present here is that our criminal litigation
and its institution the court is pervaded by a certain pathology that makes it
powerless in front of people with high social standing (those who possess wealth,

4
prestige and knowledge power complex or as the language of the researchers power
dynamics.). Powerless in a sense that it favors the demand of those in high status
our blind concerning the crimes they perpetrated. In addition, in the process we
want to prove that the symbol of justice that we adopt is wrong and creates an
illusion in the eyes of the public. That the institution of justice is just and impartial
but the contrary is true.

Working under the tradition of sociology and its offspring cultural studies the
researchers aims to examine litigation in terms of litigation practices and its
relation to power, its goal is to expose power relationships and examine how its
dynamics influence and shape court litigation.

By utilizing secondary data analysis, three months of court observation (and

analysis of symbolic process within it) and interview of 200 Manila City Jail
inmates we have done this initial exploration like a detective in search of truth.

Hope this may serve as a fuel for more discourse in the field of Society and Law
particularly that of the Sociology of Jurisprudence for the betterment of our future.

B.THEORITICAL FRAME WORK

"The irrationality of a thing is not an argument against its existence, rather, a

condition of it."

-Friedrich Nietzsche.

5
 Looking in a general sociology textbook one of the most essential topic for
whoever is interested or is taking up a sociology class is the chapter on social
stratification. For such one of the key factor for a critical analysis of society is the
concept of social stratification. In this research the focus of the study is within the
institution of social control (particularly that of litigation) and the power that
stratification holds within it.

Max Weber: Wealth, Prestige and Power.1

(A Weberian conception of the criminal justice system.)

One of the most influential sociological theorists of the classical age is Max
Weber. According to him, Marx’s assertion that economic factors are important in
understanding individual and group behavior is correct. Yet he emphasized that no
one factor was sufficient for defining people’s location within the class structure.
And how this class structure affects his behavior and his social surrounding
behavior. As such, he developed within the Marxian tradition a much more holistic
and complex multi dimensional approach to social stratification that focused on the
interplay of wealth, prestige and power in determining a person’s class position,
and how this factor affects the different institution a person belongs to. For Weber
these three elements do not only determine your place in the stratum of society but
also the behavior of the society towards you. To enumerate according to him to him
the first of this elements is WEALTH he defines it as the value of all persons or
1
SOURCES: SOCIOLOGY IN OUR TIMES THE ESSENTIALS 3RD EDITION BY DIANA KENDALL pg.
202-203.

6
family’s economic assets, including income, personal property and income-
producing property. To note when you have this wealth they are able to purchase
expensive consumer items, control other people’s opportunities and monopolize
others. Secondly, Weber puts forward the concept of PRESTIGE this is a respect or
regard with which others regard a person or status position. Fame, respect, honor
and esteem are the most common forms of prestige. A person who has a high level
of prestige, which is assumed to receive deferential and respectful treatment to
others.

Last on Weber’s notion is POWER he defines it as the ability of people or

groups to achieve their goal despite opposition from others. The powerful shape
society in accordance with their own interest and directs the actions of others.

So from here we enter the main reason for the researcher using this sociological
perspective in their study because as Weber is theorizing social stratification is a
very powerful factor on every aspect of social life and organization even the
criminal justice system is pervade by this social force. It even enter the seemingly
profess institution of impartiality. For as Weberian theory says wealth, prestige and
power determine the behavior of the institution and the individuals inside it.

Power is not as rational as we think it is. It is not just a simple task of achieving or
acquiring it. Michel Foucault a French postmodern theorist shed light on such a
vogue notion of power acquisition and determines how this power affects the
behavior of the institution of social control.

7
FOUCAULT ON POWER2

MICHEL FOUCAULT's understanding of power changes between his early work

on institutions (Madness and Civilization, The Birth of the Clinic, Discipline and Punish)
and his later work on sexuality and governmentality. In the early work, Foucault
sometimes gives a sense that power somehow inheres in institutions themselves rather
than in the individuals that make those institutions function. Of course, what Foucault
explores in those books is how the creation of modern disciplines, with their principles of
order and control, tends to "disindividualize" power, making it seem as if power inheres
in the prison, the school, the factory, and so on. The Panopticon becomes Foucault's
model for the way other institutions function: the Panopticon "is an important mechanism,
for it automatizes and disindividualizes power. Power has its principle not so much in a
person as in a certain concerted distribution of bodies, surfaces, lights, gazes; in an
arrangement whose internal mechanisms produce the relation in which individuals are
caught up" (Discipline 202). Indeed, Bentham's goal was to create an architectural idea
that, ultimately, could function on its own: it did not matter who exactly operated the
machine: "Any individual, taken almost at random, can operate the machine: in the
absence of the director, his family, his friends, his visitors, even his servants" (Discipline
202). The idea of discipline itself similarly functions as an abstraction of the idea of
power from any individual: "'Discipline' may be identified neither with an institution nor
with an apparatus; it is a type of power, a modality for its exercise, comprising a whole set
of instruments, techniques, procedures, levels of application, targets; it is a physics' or an
'anatomy' of power, a technology" (Discipline 215). Bureaucracies, like disciplines,
contribute to the process of disindividuation since they promote the facelessness of the
bureaucrat ("I'm just doing my job"; "I'm just a cog in the machine") and tend to continue
functioning even after major revolutions. (After the fall of Nazi Germany, for example,
the general bureaucratic structure, and most of its workers, remained in place.)

The effect of this tendency to disindividualize power is the perception that power resides
in the machine itself (the "panoptic machine"; the "technology" of power) rather than in
its operator. For this reason, one can finish reading Foucault's Discipline and Punish with
the paranoid feeling that we are powerless before such an effective and diffuse form of
social control. Foucault makes clear in his later work, however, that power ultimately
does inhere in individuals, including those that are surveilled or punished. It is true that
contemporary forms of disciplinary organization allow ever larger number of people to be
controlled by ever smaller numbers of "specialists"; however, as Foucault explains in
"The Subject and Power," "something called Power, with or without a capital letter, which
2
Felluga, Dino. "Modules on Foucault: On Power." Introductory Guide to Critical Theory.
<http://www.purdue.edu/guidetotheory/newhistoricism/modules/foucaultpower.html>.

8
 is assumed to exist universally in a concentrated or diffused form, does not exist. Power
exists only when it is put into action" (219). Foucault therefore makes clear that, in itself,
power "is not a renunciation of freedom, a transference of rights, the power of each and
all delegated to a few" (220). Indeed, power is not the same as violence because the
opposite pole of violence "can only be passivity" (220). By contrast, "a power relationship
can only be articulated on the basis of two elements which are each indispensable if it is
really to be a power relationship: that 'the other' (the one over whom power is exercised)
be thoroughly recognized and maintained to the very end as a person who acts; and that,
faced with a relationship of power, a whole field of responses, reactions, results, and
possible inventions may open up" (220). Power always entails a set of actions performed
upon another person’s actions and reactions. Although violence may be a part of some
power relationships, "In itself the exercise of power is not violence" (220); it is "always a
way of acting upon an acting subject or acting subjects by virtue of their acting or being
capable of action" (220).

Such is what Foucault says about power that it determines the behavior of
the social surrounding and those people who occupy that place. The institution has
the power of its own that of the panopticon but a person holding a power can have a
panopticon of its own(in the case of MCJ those Mayores, inmate, can command
discipline and order the other inmates) another point that Foucault is raising is that
power is not just merely acquired with domination and fear alone. In his book
entitled: POWER/KNOWLEDGE SELECTED INTERVIEW AND OTHER
WRITINGS. He theorizes the rise of power due to acquiring knowledge, which he
calls as Knowledge/Power Complex. This concept plays a vital role in the research
court observation.

C.CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK (The dynamics of Philippine litigation)

9
 The research revolves under the analysis of court litigation and the power
dynamics that operates within its boundaries. In the first figure, that precedes the
conceptual framework the researcher denotes symbols such as W (wealth), P
(prestige) and K/P COMPLEX (knowledge power complex). These three elements
consist the social dynamics, which operates, pervades and affect the Court litigation
in the Philippines. Supported by evident proliferation of literary materials such as
short stories, novels, documentary and films (be it fictional or real life)that depicts
how this Dynamics of Power really affects the course of the litigation process.

As the figure below shows the structure of justice (such as courts) is

pervaded (signified by those arrows encircling it) by the Power Dynamics (wealth
prestige, power and knowledge/power complex) this said elements directly affects
the litigation. As such the tripartite elements of wealth, prestige and
knowledge/power complex operating in the litigation shows a dynamic of power
relations. When this do happen a new form of institution as the researcher have
seen would be created, this institution as the researchers coined is
TRANSACTIONAL JUSTICE.

The determined form of institution as the researchers termed as transactional

justice. This new form of justice institution as the researchers conceptualized is a
justice that is for sale, afraid and powerless in the face of opposing force especially
those who hold wealth and who are powerful (and prestigious). This new emerging
form of justice is pathological in nature yet common people cannot see the truth for
they are disillusioned to believe that our justice is blind as represented by its
symbol.

10
 In the terminologies of Anthony Giddens, this new institution in its
structural form can be dubbed as agency and structure integration3. The researchers
see that not only the institution of litigation changes in favor of the powerful but
also people part of the said institution. Their psychological make-up is in the
process determined by the power dynamics in operation. In symbolic relations the
people’ psychological make-up makes them blind, mute and deaf in relation to a
particular litigant who has the tripartite element or either on of the element. Yet
they still adopt the symbol of justice for them to safely hide in their the human evil
they create.

Figure 1.1 The theoretical implications and operations of the dynamics of power
relations in the criminal court.

W
3
In Marx’s terminologies, this can be seen as a dialectic process for the institution
dialectically affects the individual member or the other way around the individual affects the
institution.

11
 CRIMINAL JUSTICE
SYSTEM

COURTS OF JUSTICE

K/P
COMPLEX

ORGANIZATION THAT HOUSES THE

LITIGATION
P
@
D

INSTITUTIONAL BEHAVIOR

In addition, creates a new form of institution… transactional justice

(IN THE LANGUAGE OF GIDDENS “AGENCY AND STRUCTURE INTEGRATION”)

Figure 1.2 Conceptual framework. The intervention and interaction of types of

lawyers with power dynamics.

JUSTICE SYSTEM

LAWYERS/LITIGANTS
12
L
 FAVORE
D
PRIVATE
POWER

WEALTH
COURT JURISPRUDE
LITIGATION NCE
PRESTIGE

KNOWLEDG
E/POWER EXCLUDE
COMPLEX D
TRANSACTIO
PAO NAL JUSTICE

THE OPERATION OF POWER DYNAMICS INSIDE A

COURT LITIGATION AND HOW THROUGH ITS
INTERVENTION WITH JURISPRUDENCE,
TRANSACTIONAL JUSTICE IS BORN. The lawyer in the
conceptual framework embodies the exclusion or
inclusion the dynamics of power in the court litigation.

The conceptual framework discusses the main thesis argument of the research. That
the dynamics of power relations as embodied in wealth, prestige and
knowledge/power complex. As it operates within the institution of court, affects
and determine the institutional behavior. In addition, in the process brings life to a
new form of justice we categorically call the TRANSACTIONAL JUSTICE. This

13
invalidates the illusionize meaning of our justice symbol as blind in relation to the
status one holds within the society. This also subjects the court as a social construct
that is powerless in the face of power dynamics which operates within it realm. The
concept that can be also seen as an institution pervaded by pathology of
transactions.

The institution of court litigation is not really just for as a social construct it
is pervaded by power dynamics as shown in the figure where a structure is
encircled by arrows with corresponding sign. In addition, as this dynamics pervade
the court a new form of justice is born. This as the research calls the transactional
justice system.

To put it more vividly the elements of power dynamics includes or favors

those with private lawyers yet it excludes those with PAO lawyers. In the litigation,
the said exclusion or inclusion determines whether a litigant wins or loses in the
battle of life and incarceration. Clearly, the researchers noted that the jurisprudence
in this country is pro-powerful and unjust. Yet they hide in the veil of justice
symbol that denotes blindness in relation to power dynamics. This in the process
creates pathology in the criminal justice system yet as people accept that this is the
realities in life yet do nothing a new form of institution of justice arise--- the
transactional justice.

D.STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

"Tragedy is a tool for the living to gain wisdom, not a guide by which
to live."

-Robert Kennedy.

14
 Generally, the researchers want to give answers and explanation to a
seemingly new yet not, phenomenon of the TRANSACTIONAL JUSTICE. The
general problem is----How does the sociological concept of wealth, prestige and
knowledge/power complex operates, affects and determines the behavior of the
institution of social control, the dynamics of which is the Philippine litigation?

According to Charles Wright Mills4, “No social study that does not come
back to the problems of biography, of history, and of their intersections within a
society, has completed its intellectual journey.” In this regards the researchers
would like to give explanations and answers to a long-standing question on the
field of law and society, particularly that of the sociology of jurisprudence5. A
comparative study of legal systems legal doctrines and legal institutions as a
social phenomenon, and considers law as it actually is --- the law in action as
distinguished from the law as it appears in books.

Coming down with the specifics and making this research a workable
one, the researchers made workable and particular problems such as:

What is the difference when you have a public or private lawyer?

Does being a celebrity, a politician or a public figure affect the three processes
enumerated?

How does the court litigation proceed?

4
It is quite essential to site that C. Wright Mills have also written a book discussing the issue
of power relations and high status, how this determine the behavior of the institution. The
book is entitled as The Power Elite.
5
Source: Law and Society By Steven Vago 4th edition

15
 What are symbolic relations6 that can be observed in court litigation?

E. IMPORTANCE OR SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

"Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls. The most massive characters
are seared with scars."

- Khalil Gibran.

Sociology is a discipline that does not only study a social phenomenon to

understand it but also to change it. Such is the reason why the concept of PRAXIS
is very pervasive to all of those who take sociology seriously. For this particular
research/study, the researchers deem this study of great importance not only to the
discipline but to all of the society for the following reason:

For the discipline of sociology and that of theorizing in the Philippines few are ever
written in the sociological jurisprudence section of our field may this fuel more of
them.

To Filipino sociologist and those of the legal profession we do not have the vanity
of time to convene and hold conferences to talk about things, which are of great
importance to both of our field. May this paper serve as a sounding call for us to
convene sit in a same room and talk about the problems of our society that need our
help and expertise to arrive at a solution.

For the academe may this study help open your eyes to the larger picture of life and
not only that of a normative and financially rewarding things in life.

6
Symbolic relations is a term that I arrived when in the process of observing class or group
behavior that can be implied by close reading of their interaction which holds essential and
critical social facts.

16
For the non-governmental organizations, which watch over the criminal justice
system vigorously, may this study be your guide to seek real justice. Watch over
the institution lobby a change be vigilant!

For our honorable congressional representative and senators may this study fuel
your minds to bring about change to our existing laws for the past and right
resolutions of criminal cases. We need laws that would never look at your social
standing!

For those with careers in the criminal justice reflects with this study, We hope this
would serve as an opening roar for you to wake up and bring about change and
medicine for the pathology we call the transactional justice.

Moreover, for the public be informed, asked questions serve as a concerned, critical
and wise community. Everything written here may also happen to you. Don’t be
victimized.

To me personally who is hooked with criminal justice, forensic psychology and that
of the criminal minds this is a breath of the real and the true. A way of preparation.
A battle tactic one needs to create a better future.

F. SCOPE, LIMITATION AND DELIMITATION

“Not everything in this world can be cover even by a great and bright
detective.”

-Senior Special Agent Jason Gideon, BAU FBI (criminal minds)

17
 As the above-mentioned quote says not everything can be done in, a
certain study for all of us has a different constrains of our own. For this
particular study, I hope to limit our limitation yet I can’t do this on my own so a
line you are stabilized so that certain focuses that are needed in every human
endeavor is needed.

The following are some of the delimitation of this study and its reason/s:

This study can be more complete if the study can cover all of the varied and
complex court and correctional institution of the Philippines, yet due to limited
budget and time and the places to go are to far from the researchers’ resident, the
researcher focus their attention to the manila city jail- male and female ward.

Secondly resources in the field of sociology in particular that of sociological

jurisprudence are few and rare so a an in-depth theoretical analysis can not be
given, to prove this point only one book in the sociology of law is available in
Ateneo de Manila main library .

Thirdly, we are on focus in one of the most difficult field of study for such this
deals with a security institution and that of the ever-guarded institution of the
judiciary. A legal and bureaucratic process should be observed in studying this kind
of institution.

LIMITATION

For the research limitation the following are given.

This study focused on the litigation as shown in Manila-RTC and observations are
focused on the symbolics of power relations/ power dynamics in the said court.

18
The focused of the observational comparison are done between the differences of
having a PAO from a PRIVATE lawyer.

Only three (in some point a twin forth) factors are very much given emphasis they
are wealth, prestige and knowledge/power complex as key issues in the power
dynamics as shown in the 200 interview sample.

For the secondary data analysis, we compartmentalize ourselves with three well-
known cases such as the alabang boys’ case, Estrada case and the Santos case.

SCOPE

A horse for it to run straight needs an eye foil so that it can focus. True to
statement a focus is important for the study to succeed, here is the scope of the
study for it to run straight and smoothly.

The study focuses’ on the criminal litigation in the Philippines. The power
dynamics that operates within its realm and in the process affects the institution.
We also focus on the emerging form of justice that is given to people with high
social standing a justice we critically call as TRANSACTIONAL JUSTICE.

E. OPERATIONAL DEFINITION

1. Sociological jurisprudence- a comparative study of legal systems legal

doctrines and legal institutions as a social phenomenon, and considers law
as it actually is --- the law in action as distinguished from the law as it
appears in books. In this research, we used this to show and analyze the
justice in the Philippines.

2. Justice-involves equal punishment for identical offenses and equal

rewards to identical merit

19
3. Criminal Justice System-is defined as the machinery of the state or
government, which enforces the rules of conduct necessary to protect life
and property and maintain peace and order.

4. Courts-are institution vested with judicial power that serves as the final
arbiter of all disputes or issues involving violations of criminal law.

5. Prisons/Corrections-are security institutions where inmates are hold until

a verdict is achieved concerning one’s case.

6. Litigation- the process in judicial institution of finding whether the

criminally accused is guilty or not guilty of a criminal lawsuit filed
against him or her.

7. Imprisonment- the process of deterring a person due to a criminal case

filed.

8. WEALTH- on Weberian definition it is the value of all persons or

family’s economic assets, including income, personal property and
income-producing property. In this research, we have look on this
element of stratification in terms of the economic status one has and how
this affects the litigation process.

9. PRESTIGE-on Weberian theory this is a respect or regard with which a

person or status position is regarded by others. Fame, respect, honor and
esteem are the most common forms of prestige. In the research this is
operationalized in the secondary data analysis of the Judy Ann Santos
case and the Estrada case.

10. POWER- on Weber terminology he defines it as the ability of people or

groups to achieve their goal despite opposition from others. The powerful

20
 shape society in accordance with their own interest and directs the actions
of others.

11. Knowledge/Power complex- According to Michel Foucault’ definition

power is greatly associated with the knowledge one have in a particular
setting in his explanation the rise of such discipline as psychoanalysis is
due to a different knowledge they have as for the masses. The researchers
took his major concept and make some revision to adjust it to this study to
denote knowledge of one own litigation makes one powerful in a court of
law. As the conceptual framework shows the inclusion or exclusion of
this particular element as embodied by the proceedings if one has a
private or PAO lawyer.

12. Grassroot analysis – a research proposed method of analyzing social

control phenomenon that are heavily guarded by persons in power who
“subjugates”7 any attempts to critically analyze a phenomenon that they
consider as only for those in legal profession.

13. Dynamics8 of litigation in the Philippines – a term that I arrived by

considering the elements which operates (wealth, prestige and knowledge
power complex.) within the criminal justice system.

14. an initial exploration- a term which denotes the social situation of the
research at hand for such this research considered a first move on a vast

7
Is a term I adopted from Michel Foucault’s theory on The Archeology of Knowledge, in here
he critic’s western intellectual history and culture. he uses the metaphor of “subjugated”
knowledge to denote knowledge that is considered by those experts to be nothing of
importance. Retrieved A SINGING SOMETHING Womanist reflections on Anna Julia Cooper by
Karen Baker-Fletcher.
8
I have to thank Prof. Justin Nicholas for his valuable suggestion to use the term dynamics
when referring to elements of the Weberian and Foucaultian sociology that operates within
the litigation process. (the phenomenon we are looking at.)

21
 theoretical project I am planning to undergo under the subfield of
sociology of jurisprudence especially here in the Philippines where only
few ever step within the almost sacred field in the intersection of law and
society. This also considers the fact that one cannot at a certain degree
isolate a single part of the justice system for they all has in one point
interact and overlaps.

15. Transactional justice – is a new and emerging form of criminal justice

that favors those with high status (those who has wealth, prestige and
knowledge/power complex.) in this research this concept is initial
introduce yet not thoroughly explored. For the researchers focused on the
operation of power dynamics in the litigation.

16. Panopticon- in this research this term originally by Jeremy Bentham,

denotes that when one has acquires knowledge power complex as
embodied by the private lawyer. A litigant can prepare tactics and can
oversee the course of ones criminal case.

CHAPTER TWO

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE AND STUDIES

You don't get to choose how you're going to die. Or when. You can
only decide how you're going to live. Now.

-- Joan Baez

A.RELATED LITERATURE

22
 A.1FOREIGN LITERATURE
9
Criminal Injustice: Racism in the Criminal Justice System is a book that
explores the theory of racism and the law by attempting to explain the phenomena
of racism in one area of the law, the criminal justice system. It explores the myriad
factors that contribute to racism in this context, including the role of media in
perpetuating racial stereo types about Blacks, the policing of First Nations, anti-
racist initiatives in probation services, Canada's human rights record, and the
meaning of systemic racism, to describe but a few of the themes running
throughout the book.

The book is also unusual in its approach in that it engages the reader in a discussion
which exposes false beliefs about the non-racist nature of the criminal justice
system in Canada and elsewhere. The book not only challenges the reader to re-
think firmly held beliefs about the nature of (criminal) justice and equality, but also
calls for a practical application of the theoretical knowledge in an effort to eradicate
racism in the criminal justice system.

What makes the book particularly dynamic is that it is not written by a single
author, nor does it focus on a single country's problem with racism in its criminal
justice system. Instead, it is an anthology containing sixteen chapters, contributed
by a group of writers dealing with the issue of racism in the criminal justice system
in countries as diverse as Britain, the United States, Australia, the South Pacific,
and Canada. The book's primary focus, however, is on the existence and eradication
of racism in the Canadian criminal justice system. The comparative approach taken
in the book with respect to the experiences of racism in other countries serves to
9
Carol A. Aylward "Criminal Injustice: Racism in the Criminal Justice System". Canadian
Ethnic Studies Journal. FindArticles.com. 06 Dec, 2009.
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_hb039/is_2_33/ai_n28889333/

23
heighten the reader's awareness of the global nature of racism and it affords those
interested in social change as well as those in a position to effect social change an
opportunity to explore solutions developed elsewhere to address the problem.

The book begins appropriately enough with an introduction to the Canadian

criminal justice system, an essential component for readers unfamiliar with it. The
fact that one is not legally trained, however, is not a great impediment to the
usefulness of the book as a tool for social change, since the authors, while
academic in their approach, seem to have written with a broader audience in mind
than is generally the case when dealing with such a topic.

What follows is a summary of some of the many themes I found most valuable in
this interesting book. The overview of the Canadian criminal justice system
contained in Chapter 1, as mentioned, is a particularly useful tool. The issue of
media images of Blacks contained in Chapter 2 is valuable in understanding the
role of media in the perpetuation of racial stereotypes. The author of The Color of
Crime. External and Internal Images asks the question "How is it that Blacks are
widely seen as symbols of success and symbols of deviance?" What accounts for
these conflicting perceptions of Blacks and Blackness? The author goes on to
explain that, "At the core, the [media] presentation of Blackness is one of
contradiction. Images of Black deviance are promoted alongside images of Black
achievement -- sometimes they overlap." In an attempt to explain this phenomenon,
the author notes that the media "portrays neutral and in some cases positive images
of Blacks, [however] these images cannot compete with the overwhelmingly
negative characterizations." The author explores these issues with focus groups of
young black men and women and sets the stage for the other authors of this
anthology who attempt to tackle the question of "how the law can be used more
effectively to address racial harms against Blacks."

24
Other significant chapters include Racism in Justice: Perceptions Commission on
Systemic Racist in the Ontario Criminal Justice System; Racial Discrimination in
Law: An International Perspective, and First Nations Peoples and Law
Enforcement: Community Perspectives on Police Response, Self- Government and
Criminal Justice: Issues and Realities (to name a few). This body of work offers the
reader statistical, social scientific, anecdotal and other data regarding the treatment
of Blacks, First Nations, and other people of colour in the criminal justice system in
Canada and abroad, on the premise that acknowledgement of the existence of
racism in the system must first occur before concrete steps can be taken to eradicate
it.

Nor is the issue of gender ignored. For example, in Chapter 11, the author pushes
the reader to consider the impact of colonialism on the traditional (egalitarian) role
of First Nations women in Aboriginal societies. The author proceeds on the
assumption that the solution to the over representation of Aboriginal peoples in the
criminal justice system and the systemic discrimination in that system requires the
"recreation of Aboriginal justice systems." She notes that over representation of
Aboriginal peoples in the criminal justice system is not the only problem
Aboriginal people having with that system. She rejects the notion that mere
accommodation made within the existing justice system will ameliorate the
"experience of injustice that Aboriginal men and women experience within the
Canadian justice system."

The most significant contribution this book makes to the genre of critical analysis is
in the area of alternatives to the existing system and recommendations for a more
egalitarian one. These alternatives and recommendations include such things as
sentencing reform; Aboriginal systems of justice; approaches that allow for
changes in laws and policy as well as changes in society; coalition building

25
between oppressed groups; police reform; police accountability; more minority
recruitment in all areas including the legal profession, judiciary, police institutions,
court administration; and speaking out against racism, and more.

The book does suffer somewhat from the failure, inherent in the nature of many
anthologies, to form a unifying thread with respect to the themes under discussion.
On the whole, however, this anthology succeeds better than most in this regard. I
would recommend this book to anyone seriously interested in practical ways to
eradicate racism in the criminal justice system. The book's major failing is that it
focuses too heavily on the front end of the criminal justice system, policing, and
not enough on the many other loci for racism within the justice system, such as the
judiciary and the legal profession, including the first gatekeeper of the system, legal
education. It is, however, a refreshing and unique read. It not only contributes to a
greater understanding of the role that racism plays in the Canadian criminal justice
system, but offers workable solutions to the problem.

Relation to the study:

In this particular study done by Canadian Ethnic Studies Association, they

focused on race issue in relation to the criminal litigation in their country. As such,
phenomenons like this have pervaded them since the beginning of the history of
colonization. Considering the fact that Canada have been a white dominated
country and the majority (in relation to power) are whites such injustice can be
seen. This is related in the current study for such it proves that power dynamics
pervade the justice system in different country in different form due mostly with
cultural relativism.

A.2 LOCAL LITERATURE

26
 10
According to prof., Monsod the Philippine justice system is already
corrupted due to its current state where the rich and famous get away with their
criminal liabilities by paying their way out. She sited for example the issues
surrounding the “ALABANG BOYS” who allegedly bribe a prosecutor to dismiss
their case and run away from the case related with high drug pushing. And in the
process, the two departments that should work hand and hand in solving cases
became enemies the DOJ versus the PDEA.

11
IT MAY take some time before the debates end in reaction to the much anticipated
landmark ruling on the first criminal trial involving a former President of the Republic.
Ousted president Joseph Ejercito Estrada was found guilty of plunder, but was acquitted
on the perjury charge. His co-accused, son Jose ‘Jinggoy’ and lawyer Edward S. Serapio
were also acquitted of plunder.

Beyond the verdict, however, thought should be given on how the trial was handled by the
Sandiganbayan, the special court that has jurisdiction over criminal and civil cases
involving graft and other offenses committed by public officials and employees.

Court observers agree that while the court tried very hard to ensure fairness throughout
the proceedings, it became lenient to former President Estrada — in many instances to a
fault. In fact, Estrada is now headed back to his Tanay residence, where he has been
staying for the last three years, instead of Muntinlupa, where he is supposed to go after
being convicted.

The Estrada case thus puts in the spotlight once again how the justice system can become
so helpless in the face of a powerful accused. Indeed, the proceedings that were highly
politicized became mournfully drawn out, clogged up as it was in part with numerous
court-granted perks for Estrada that would make ordinary inmates weep.

Veteran criminal lawyer Mario Ongkiko says, though, that all the special considerations,
even for a former president, set a bad precedent in the justice system. “Nagkaroon ng
10
Taken from: Q-TV news segment entitled ANALYSIS by Prof. Solita Monsod. With the title,
Transactional justice. As the readers can note from her coinage of the term transactional
justice that the researchers have adopted our same term but with a revise and a much
critical and sociological definition.
11
Guilty! But special concessions for accused show flawed system. by Karen
Tiongson-Mayrina Wednesday, September 12th, 2007 ·

27
 special treatment,” he says. “Now you can expect other accused of prominent stature to
ask for some privileges. It’s tailoring the penal system to suit the needs of the accused.”

This particular report explores how a prestigious, powerful and wealthy

litigant like the former president Estrada can down play and manipulate the
behavior of the court towards him.

Yet this is not only a single issue reflected here but also the real state of our
justice system that favors the powerful. As the article says “thus puts in the
spotlight once again how the justice system can become so helpless in the face of a
powerful accused”.

B.RELATED STUDIES

B.1 FOREIGN STUDIES

12
During the past decade, there has been growing international interest in the
topic of wrongful conviction and its serious implications. As in other
jurisdictions, Canada has seen several high-profile cases of wrongful conviction
that have led to an increased recognition of the fallibility of the criminal justice
process. However, despite increased media attention to the issue, corresponding
academic literature on the problem has been limited in this country. This article
begins by reviewing the literature on the causes of wrongful conviction and uses
examples from Canadian cases as illustrations. Following this, through
qualitative interviews with five wrongly convicted Canadians, the article
examines some long-term effects of a wrongful imprisonment on individuals and
12
Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice, Vol. 21, No. 3, 224-249 (2005)
DOI: 10.1177/1043986205278627 Criminal Injustice Understanding the Causes, Effects,
and Responses to Wrongful Conviction in Canada Myriam S. Denov Kathryn M. Campbell
University of Ottawa

28
 their families both during incarceration and following their release. Finally,
government responses to the issue are discussed, illustrating their limitations and
their relevance for criminal justice policy and practice.

B.2 LOCAL STUDIES

The Philippines is a country caught in the transition from the traditional

13

mode and modernity. Much of the country has already adapted the modern,
typically Western, way of living evident in the different institutions established
in these areas. Yet they are still many who adhere to the traditional way of
living or straddle in between these two modes. I examine this in the context of
social control and punishment in the Philippines. I examine why some
indigenous forms, if any, still prevail. I examine this and its implication to the
society.

This research by Abigail Orbeta from UP, Diliman shed light to the history
and forms of indigenous form of social control. According to her paper, the
indigenous form of social control is transactional in nature for you can always
pay whatever indemnities you have done to the other party. Still with the
13
THE PREVALENCE OF THE INDIGENOUS FORMS OF SOCIAL CONTROL AND PUNISHMENT IN
THE PRESENT DAY PHILIPPINESABIGAIL M. ORBETA UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES,
DILIMAN

29
 research people with high social standing like the datus who are exempted by
laws to be punished by wrong done. This is in one-way related to a new and
emerging form of justice in the Philippines, the transactional justice.

CHAPTER THREE

METHODOLOGY

Truth can never be reached by just listening to the voice of

an authority.

-- Francis Bacon, quoted from Michael Taylor, "Francis Bacon Secret

Societies"

The above quotation reflects the sentiments of the current

research for the sociological study of jurisprudence and that of the
criminal justice system. We mostly deal with what the authority
dictates us to do and believe, yet being oriented to be critical and
analytical of the system the sociological research should at one
hand do research like this one to asserts the claim of a true
scientific and mass oriented study.

A.)SETTING OF THE STUDY

30
This study is done in the city of Manila. Particular institutions studied for the
analysis of the phenomenon are the following:

REGIONAL TRIAL COURT BRACH 10 AND BRANCH 15

For the observational analysis, I relied heavily with my three months court
observation on these particular branches.

MANILA CITY JAIL – MALE AND FEMALE, Sta. Cruz

For our interview, we are concentrated in his particular place because they are
open for the intrusion of student who is undergoing research.

Another point is that one of the researchers has done his learning exposure in
this place.

B.) TYPE OF RESEARCH

In many respect, the study of the criminal justice system, its process,
organization and behavior in relation to the elements of Weberian stratification
exemplifies the study of other social issues. For complex issues such as this one we
are using the exploratory method. Exploratory method for such during the
researchers library research we found out that only few research are ever written on
the field of sociology of jurisprudence.

C.) RESEARCH DESIGN

This research study is employing a research triangulation a research design that

uses multiple methods to study one research question. Influenced by forensic
psychology and the series Criminal minds the research wish to make this study a

31
research ladder for further study in the field of Philippine sociology of
jurisprudence as such we utilize those possible research methods.

D.) RESEARCH METHODOLOGY AND TECHNIQUES

Method of sampling

This research employed a purposive sampling of 200 inmates14 detained in the

BJMP (Bureau of Jail Management and Penology). Run facilities to get a
descriptive statistics on the difference of having a private lawyer compared to a
PAO lawyer (Public Attorney’s Office.) In relation to the litigation process some
would say that taking data or information with the inmates would not be a reliable
method for such they really do not know how the justice systems. (In particular the
litigation process works) However, actually the researchers stand that they who are
the primary “actors”15 of this phenomenon can shed light to the realities of life that
the research cannot get from the said experts.16 . The samples given are as follows:
14
The sampling is done in a way that the researchers only give criteria on the subjects
(inmates) we want to interview while the paralegal office took care of bringing the chosen
subjects inside the office.
15
“Actors” is a term borrowed from Erving Goffman’s dramaturgical sociology.
16
Some say that to get reliable data’s, lawyers or those in the legal profession are the once
we need to interview but the researcher are pushing for a grass root sociological analysis of
the said phenomenon.

32
 1. 100 male inmates in Manila City Jail (MCJ) in Sta. Cruz, Manila.

2. 100 female inmates in Manila City Jail (MCJ) in Sta. Cruz, Manila.

Observational method

To betterly, understand the dynamics of litigation process in the Philippines

and its impact to the institutional behavior (agency and structure) of the litigation
this research employs the observational method. One of the researchers does this
when he serves as a paralegal and IWDs intern in the Manila city jail – male. The
said researcher used to attend court hearings with JO3 Godofredo Eder (under the
Court Reaction Unit, MCJ). The said participant observation is done for 3 months
every Tuesday and Friday from 8 -12 am (August-October 2009)

Secondary Data Analysis

To put the phenomenon on its proper and much understandable perspective

the researcher have decided to utilize a secondary data analysis of well-known
cases in the Philippines that have been impartial on its cases because of the
dynamics of power relations. The following cases that we have analyzed are:

The Erap Estrada case, as presented by the PCIJ (Philippine Center for
Investigative Journalism.)

The Judy Ann Santos TAX evasion case. As presented by the ABS-CBN research.

The Alabang boy’s case as presented by the inquirer.

E.) RESPONDENTS AND CRITERIA FOR CHOOSING

The respondents for the research are inmates from manila city jail –male and
female ward. Who are purposively selected from the inmates’ population. The

33
factor the research consider as pertinent to the research is the lawyer classification
of inmates (particularly if your lawyer are pao or private.) We requested a 50-50
rule, which means half of the respondents, should come from the PAO and half
from private.

The respondents are provided by the paralegal office of manila city jail
mindful of the criteria given by the researchers (lawyer classification 50 PAO and
%) private.). The respondents are brought inside the office where the researchers
are staying.

TYPES OF DATA

C.1 Primary Data

-Structured interview with 200inmates.

-observation on the MCJ facilities

-Court observation.

-descriptive statistics. Of the interview

C.2 Secondary Data

- Reports by PCIJ, done concerning the evicted presidents case. (The

Estrada case.)

-filed and cases and news clippings of the Judy Ann and alabang boys
case.

DATA GATHERING TECHNIQUES

1. Interview ( thru the use of the interview schedule17 )

17
The sample of the interview schedule can be seen in the annex.

34
 2. Observation

3. Secondary data analysis ( investigative reports and journalistic news)

analysis

CHAPTER FOUR

PRESENTATION, INTERPRETATION AND ANALYSIS OF THE DATA

“There is nothing with which every man is so afraid as getting to know how
enormously much he is capable of doing and becoming.”

Soren Kierkegaard

Court observation on litigation (focus on the symbolic interaction)

August 25,2009( 8:00-12:00 am morning trial)

This is the first time that I joined the escort reaction unit (the division in MCJ
assigned to bring inmates in Manila city hall-RTC and MeTC’s) under the
supervision of a veteran jail officer JO3 Godofredo Eder. His been with the unit for
nine years and going. In there I observed how courts culture presides. The
researcher has witnessed two arraignments and a pre-trial. I have learned that
arraignments are the first process an inmate would undergo inside the court. An
arraignment is basically a process where the litigant is told briefly of the case filed,
the complainant and ask if he can provide his own lawyer if he cannot the court

35
would assign a PAO lawyer in his behalf. Also in arraignment is where the litigant
is asked of his plea whether guilty or not guilty. During the said proceedings the
researcher have noticed something a that almost all of the answers concerning the
court query are facilitated by the lawyer in fact for the spam of my observation only
the lawyers and the judge and court administrator are the ones talking. The inmates
are silent actors in the said scene. He is only recognized during the calling of the
court attendance.

But all in all the court observation is both enjoyable, exiting and at some point
question and doubt rises. I’m looking forward to the next court session I will
observe.

August 28, 2009(8:00-12:00 am morning trial)

Second day of my court observation, the court proceedings started with the
ecumenical prayer of the court where all are asked to stand and after wards the
clerk of the court would ask everybody to sit and be silent during the duration of
the hearing. Followed by the court clerk, doing the roll calls for the attendance of
the litigants yet I noticed that the inmate/litigant is only identified with the case
number and not the full name while on the other hand the complainants are clearly
identified with the name. The researcher witnessed three-pre trial and a trial. The
usual court procedure, it start with the ecumenical prayer and the singing of the
national anthem, case numbers are read one by one the litigants and the
complainant are called for the attendance if either18 the litigant or the complainant
are not present another case no. is called and if both of them are present the court
litigation continue. However, I observed something a motion of a kind done by a

18
The fact is the litigant(inmates ) are always present while the complainant are mostly
absent this is another dimension why the litigation are always delayed a tactic mostly
employed by knowledgeable and affluent complainant.

36
defense lawyer regarding his client wherein he requested the court for a fast trial
for his client quoting the speedy trial provision under the law. If this is possible as a
legal tactic why during my stay in MCJ-male as a intern under the paralegal and
IWDS division of the jail the most complaint I received is that for almost 6 year of
litigation only once a year does’ the majority19 of the inmates receive a complete20
trial.

A break is given for the court session during which I done my questioning.
( One thing more to remember during a court litigation spectator inside the court
should remain silent and only the judge, the lawyers and the court clerk are allowed
to talk, people are only allowed to talk if the judge would asked them pertinent
questions.). Whose the lawyer and whose the litigant the researcher is given
answers and found out the lawyer are private and the litigant come for a affluent
family in manila.

October 8, 2009 ( 8:00-12:00 am morning trial)21

My last day for my court observation, still the proceedings started with
the usual procedure prayer, anthem and the case number calling. But this particular
day as I have been observing for three months now I have clearly noticed a
recurrent observation of behavioral patterns inside the court. During the span of the

19
This is the reason why most of the inmates asked help from NGO like Caritas so that they
can be help regarding their trial.
20
Complete trial means that during the day that the litigation is scheduled it most proceed
as planed not reseted for another sched.
21
All in all I’ve done a total of 12 court observation sessions but I sorted it out to emphasize
key elements important for this particular study but if anybody wish to have a complete
paper on my particular work on court observation you can look for it when I post it in www.
Scribd .com

37
court proceedings the only persons conversing are the lawyers and the judge ( and
her staff). The witness are only questioned and if the answers given are not direct to
the point hey are reprimanded the witness can only talk if asked and if not even if
they have pertinent thing to say would go to their lawyer and the lawyer would be
the one to talk for him. The researcher have also noticed that during the court
recess the those with private lawyers discusses to their client what transpired for the
day while the PAO lawyer joins the judge and the fiscal in the private room
exclusively for the court personnel’s. The researcher also noticed during the court
recess an inmate telling his family that he has problems with his hearings for he
don’t know what’s the state of his case when I approached and asked him who’s his
lawyer he told me that it is the pao lawyer assigned and he doesn’t know what is
her name.

After the trial I22 asked my supervisor if what I he can read and comment on
my observations while we are traveling back in MCJ. He said yes, I told him my
observations, and he told me that such things are the realities of court trials for as
he clearly says criminal in this country are treated as nonhuman.

SECONDARY DATA ANALYSIS23

1. ESTRADA CASE (I have highlighted the very important case)

The Estrada case thus puts in the spotlight once again how the justice system can
become so helpless in the face of a powerful accused. Indeed, the proceedings that

22
This basically refers to the researcher, the term is adopted from the actual research notes.
23
Datas for this part of the chapter are generated by close reading of files found in the
internet concerning the three-highlighted case such as the alabang boys case, the Estrada
case and the Santos case.

38
were highly politicized became mournfully drawn out, clogged up as it was in part
with numerous court-granted perks for Estrada that would make ordinary inmates
weep.

Veteran criminal lawyer Mario Ongkiko says, though, that all the special
considerations, even for a former president, set a bad precedent in the justice
system. “Nagkaroon ng special treatment,” he says. “Now you can expect other
accused of prominent stature to ask for some privileges. It’s tailoring the penal
system to suit the needs of the accused.”

“All persons should be treated equal, all prisoners should be treated the same,” he
points out. “But the equality clause is violated very openly.”

Estrada, though, was being defended by at least eight big-time law firms headed by
a former Chief Justice, two other justices, a former University of the Philippines
law dean, and other legal luminaries.

2. THE ALABANG BOYS CASE

P50 million was offered to Department of Justice (DOJ) prosecutors in return for
the dismissal of the case and the release of the three, two or three days before
Christmas.

The PDEA caught the “Alabang Boys” peddling Ecstasy pills in a sting operation
last September but this was dismissed by the Department of Justice (DoJ)
investigating panel led by Zuño after three months for insufficiency of evidence.
The dismissal has led to charges of bribery by the PDEA, which has prompted

39
President Macapagal-Arroyo to order that the “Alabang Boys” remain in jail while
the case was being re-investigated.

The alleged 50 million bribes allegedly put out by the parents of the three young
Alabang high society drug pushers show how certain members of the elite view law
and justice in this country. In this jurisdiction, says a lawyer friend, everything is
for sale.

As for these Alabang boys, the Department of Justice Secretary Raul Gonzales
should not let them get away from this crime. They should learn their lesson. Be
not afraid. No amount of mumbo jumbo, of toning water, of celebrity status nor
strong connections with the palace must ever influence your decision. The evidence
against these boys are overwhelming. They must be allowed to rot in jail. Or suffer
the ultimate penalty of death.

Liberal President Senator Mar Roxas today said President Gloria Macapagal
Arroyo must account for a screwed-up justice system that strongly favors the rich
and powerful as seen in the supposed coddling of the "Alabang Boys" by
Department of Justice officials.

"Palpak ang sistema ng hustisya sa ating bansa dahil imbes na kasuhan ang maysala
gaya ni Jocjoc at nitong mga Alabang Boys ay mas inuuna ng mga opisyal natin
ang pangungurakot. (Our justice system is not working because instead of filing
charges against the likes of Jocjoc and the Alabang Boys, our officials give priority
to stealing from government coffers)," Roxas said.

3. JUDY ANN SANTOS TAX EVASION CASE

The BIR filed a case for not declaring her income from her movie and product
endorsement from the year 2002. According to the BIR, she only stated about 8.033

40
million pesos in earnings in 2002, despite earning almost 16.3 million pesos. The
tax evasion suit hold a term of two to four years with a fine ranging from 30,000 to
100,000 pesos. The case is finish but the verdict is not well publicized and Judy
Ann is still at large.

Judy Ann’s case has amounting evidence but she is acquitted and given the chance
to settle her case like all tax evasion case filed against celebrity.

MATRIX OF DATA (AS GATHERED FROM INTERVIEW SCHEDULE OF

PURPOSIVE SAMPLE OF 2OO INMATES.)

RESPONDENTS

GENDER MALE FEMALE

PAO 62% 50%
PRIVATE 38% 50%
TOTAL 100% 100%
Fig.1 MATRIX OF RESPONDENTS ACCORDING TO LAWYER CLASSIFICATION.

ECONOMIC STATUS OF THE RESPONDENTS

ECONOMIC POOR MIDDLE RICH

STATUS
MALE 78% 19% 3%
FEMALE 58% 40% 2%
TOTAL 68% 29.5% 2.5%
RESPONDENTS
Fig. 2 MATRIX OF RESPONDENTS ACCORDING TO THEIR ECONOMIC STATUS.

41
EDUCATIONAL STATUS OF RESPONDENTS

EDUCATIONAL
ATTAINMENT ELEMENTARY HIGH SCHOOL COLLEGE
LEVEL24 LEVEL25 LEVEL26

MALE 48% 44% 8%

FEMALE 36% 51% 13%
TOTAL 42% 47.5% 10.5%
RESPONDENTS
Fig. 3 MATRIX OF RESPONDENTS ACCORDING TO THEIR EDUCATIONAL BACKROUND.

STATE OF RESPONDENTS LITIGATION

STATE OF ALWAYS POSTPONED NO CONTINOUS

COURT DELAYED, FOR 5 TO 8 HEARING WITHOUT
LITIGATION
POSTPONED, MONTHS FOR A DELAY
RESET. YEAR
PAO 71.82% 26.79% 9.82% 3.57%

PRIVATE 6.82% 81.18%

PRIVATE 78.64% 26.79% 9.82% 84.75%

FIG.2 THE STATE OF THE CRIMINAL LITIGATION OF INMATES

The above matrix of data as descriptively shown give as the statistical

figure of how the court litigation proceeds in relation to the type’s one lawyer
has. 71.2% of those with PAO lawyer said that they experienced always being
delayed, postponed or reseted. While only 6.82% with private lawyers said that,
they experienced being delayed, postponed or reseted with their court litigation.
On the other hand only 3.75% of those with PAO lawyer said that they
24
Including those who are undergrad.
25
Including those who are undergrad.
26
Including those who are undergrad.

42
experienced continuous without delay court hearings. While 81.18% litigants
with private lawyer said that, they have continuous without delay court
litigation. Nevertheless, this statistics does not give us the sociological
dimension of the said phenomenon we are analyzing however it surely gives us
the picture of the phenomenon, of the state of our justice system. Most of those
who answered that their litigation are continuous are the once who are
categorically speaking belonging with the middle class and those who are
paying for their lawyers- PRIVATE. While those who are always delayed,
reseted and postponed are those poor and has PAO lawyers.

In addition, the inmates interviewed attach symbolics to their lawyers, which

shed light on how they see the category of lawyers. Those interviewed with
PAO lawyers call their lawyers as “attorney dimaamin” for they always ask
their clients just to admit to the filed complaint so that they can arranged for a
plea bargaining. However, this is not the focus of the study but this is mentioned
for an additional input concerning the state of the Philippine litigation.

I believe that this things (descriptive statistics) assert a point that our justice
system particularly our court (litigation) is not really blind with the wealth you
have or the economic resources one have as it depicts with it symbol. The
sustenance of our arguments lives and continues as we unravel the real process
of our law and as we advocate a Grassroot analysis method of research.

43
 Truth

ANALYSIS OF DATA

The power dynamics as the research data shows really operates, affects and in
some point determines the course of the criminal litigation in the Philippines
socioanalyzing data presented shows how the operation of power dynamics within
the justice-litigation process affects it heavily and determines a new form of
institution the researchers dubbed as transactional justice.

OPERATES

As the observational method shows, Knowledge/Power complex operates

within the litigation process when private lawyers give utmost information to their
client concerning the course of their litigation. There by the litigants can be very
much prepared concerning the tactics needed for one’s defense. While in the other
hand those with PAO lawyers due to their large number are not given the attention
needed so that their cases can be well understood by the inmates litigants so in the
process they cannot have a good approach or tactics concerning their case in fact
they don’t now how are their cases going.

As the secondary data analysis have shown in the case of the alabang boy’s
their money talks a lot of the time the bribery scandal issue when they allegedly

44
bribe the now on indefinite suspension prosecutor Resado. When they are given by
the court the chance to be put in Taguig jail where all of the inmates are affluent is
not it a show of impartiality because they should in fact be put in Manila city jail.
Again, in secondary data analysis on the case of the evicted/deposed president
Ejercito Estrada when according to the research of PCIJ27 he is found out guilty of
charge yet given special concession. Moreover, of course as court observers agree
that while the court tried very hard to ensure fairness throughout the proceedings, it
became lenient to former President Estrada — in many instances to a fault. In fact,
Estrada is now headed back to his Tanay residence, where he has been staying for
the last three years, instead of Muntinlupa, where he is supposed to go after being
convicted. Moreover, as the PCIJ some up:

The Estrada case thus puts in the spotlight once again how the justice system can become so
helpless in the face of a powerful accused. Indeed, the proceedings that were highly politicized
became mournfully drawn out, clogged up as it was in part with numerous court-granted perks
for Estrada that would make ordinary inmates weep.

Finally still on secondary data analysis on the case of tax evasion by Judy
Ann Santos there is as the file prove amounting evidence on the culpability of the
tax evasion case yet the court agreed fro a settlement and Judy Ann is acquitted of
here crimes. While simple Filipinos who are not as prestigious as her are jail
because of petty crimes like bagansia. What kind of system provides this kind of
justice?

27
Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism, retrieved from www. PCIJ. com

45
 Further more as the descriptive datas (be it the quantitative or just the interview)
shows that many of the inmates who are indigent and cannot provide their own
lawyer are not given the monthly hearing they badly needed in accordance to the
law because their lawyers cannot handle the case well because of the overly
populated litigant they handle.

AFFECTS

When power dynamics operate within the institution of litigation, which is

the court, it affects its behavior of the institution on how it handles ones (the
inmate/litigants) case. This um ups as:

1. Wealth- on the case of interview schedule summary and its descriptive

statistics, inmates with PAO lawyer experience difficulty regarding
their litigation on points like slow trial due to being reset and having 5
to eight months without a court hearing while in the other a hand those
with private lawyer experience fast trail with no delays whatsoever.

2. Prestige- on the secondary data analysis of the Judy Ann Santos case
her being a celebrity figures a lot with way she is given an acquittal
and her case being settled as such one commentator said it is on the air
(as saying that is only a show but the truth is they really don’t want to
persecute her). This is just like the case of O. J. Simpson28 murdering
of her ex-wife and her new boyfriend. Nobody wants to persecute him
for they look upon him with devotion looking with blind obedience. In

28
BUGLIOSI, VINCENT OUTRAGE: THE FIVE REASONS WHY O. J SIMPSON GOT AWAY WITH
THE MURDER. 1996, W.W NORTON & COMPANY, INC.

46
 addition to that, in another secondary data analysis of the deposed
president his being an icon of the masses gives him the passes for not
being imprisoned in Muntinlupa. (this fact can be debated but we
cannot put into question that this figure a lot because the new
President, PGMA don’t want anything to do with people especially the
masses questioning her about the ex-president treatment.)

3. Knowledge/power complex- a shown in the observation and the

interview only those who know about the proceedings of the case are
given the chance to strategize about the case. In addition, who are
those who know better about their case as shown in the observation
those with private lawyer can have time to converse with their lawyer
about the facts of their case while those with PAO can only see their
lawyers during the trial and they don’t have any time to converse.

DETERMINES

As the dynamics of power (wealth, prestige and knowledge/power complex)

operates inside the criminal justice system- court litigation. It creates a new form of
justice system, a justice that we can critically and scientifically categorize as the
transactional justice system, which serves the interest of those possessing the social
power inherent with the status you possess.

CHAPTER FIVE

SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION

47
CONCLUSION

The odyssey that the researchers have done concerning the sociology of
jurisprudence in the Philippines generated many answers on the posted particular
problems of the study in particular. What is the difference of having a PAO from
private lawyers? As this research proceed we have found out that having PAO
lawyer is a bad thing to have in the state of our justice system for as the research
have seen they don’t have the knowledge/power complex one needed so that a
litigant can create a good tactic for one’s case. Concerning the question of being a
celebrity, a politician or a public figure does it affect the litigation process? The
research have shown through its secondary data analysis and court observation that
status symbol or power dynamics have mainly played a powerful force on, for
through its inclusion within the litigation process the litigant (inmate) are much
favored and given leniency. This research have in fact presented different and
varied observation concerning the symbolic relation on court litigation to sit a few
the silent participation of the inmate/litigants shows that only those recognized by
the society as having the knowledge/power complex are given the chance to speak
their minds. On the issue of how the court litigation proceed we have shown you
that from the every turn in the justice system power dynamics can be seen from
every turn from how long or short your trial can be are determined by how good are
your lawyer and how fast you can pay for your fast trial. Once prestige should also
be considered for if you are a deposed president the media attention given to you
would prompt the court to proceed faster that its counterpart.

To conclude this initial exploration on the sociology of jurisprudence in the

litigation on the Philippines give us the true picture of how corrupted and perverse

48
the institution of justice such as the court litigation in light of the operation of
power dynamics.

When this power dynamics are operating in single proportion such as wealth,
prestige and knowledge/power complex it can be clearly identified and shown in a
simple yet critical discourse.

The argument that the symbol of justice creates a illusion for us to be

“illusionize”, and for us to blindly believe that the criminal justice is blind with one
social status is wrong and perverse. This only proves that we must be critical of
everything in this world.

But this odyssey is just a beginning the litigation (court) is only a single
pillar on our justice system so that social change can be attained, all part of the
justice system should be analyzed and radically put into criticism for a collective
action be done.

RECOMMENDATION

We personally recommend to all of those are working for the development of

our future, be it academicians, social scientist, sociologist, activist and those
politician with heart for service or plain citizen of this country to consider the field
of sociology of jurisprudence as key for the analysis of how is our nation as a judge
and as a brother.

We recommend for those who would follow with the path of the study of
society to bring into the fore the issues we have open here and now.

We also recommend further exploration and analysis on the immerging

institution we coined as TRANSACTIONAL JUSTICE. In the research we have

49
introduce this phenomenon, but it is the researchers are seeing it still in the process
of change may this be further search and analyzed.

We also recommend institutionalizing this discourse on the sociology of

jurisprudence on the university by having forum mainly dedicated to this field.

We also recommend to the students to take the initiative to read things

concerning the sociology of jurisprudence for it merit their attention. An inquiry to
such would make them more prepared for the challenge that lies ahead.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

50
 BUGLIOSI, VINCENT

GENTRY, CURT

HELTER SKELTER

1984, BANTAM BOOKS INC.

BUGLIOSI, VINCENT

OUTRAGE: THE FIVE REASONS WHY O. J SIMPSON GOT AWAY

WITH THE MURDER.

1996, W.W NORTON & COMPANY, INC.

CBSI EDITORIAL STAFF

THE REVISED PENAL CODE ACT NO. 3815, AS AMENDED WITH

COMPLETE SPECIAL LAWS.

20TH, EDITION, 1994

CRESSEY, DONALD

COLEMAN, JAMES WILLIAM

SOCIAL PROBLEMS 6TH EDITION

FREIRE, PAULO

POLITICS OF EDUCATION

CULTURE, POWER AND LIBERATION

1985, BERGIN AND GARVEY PUBLISHERS

FORONDA, C/SUPT. MERCEDES

CORRECTIONAL ADMINISTRATION 1

INSTITUTIONAL CORRECTIONS

GABAO, RAMIL

51
 NOTES ON THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE
SYSTEM

PHILIPPINE COLLEGE OF CRIMINOLOGY

GAYLIN, WILLARD

JENNINGS, BRUCE

THE PERVERSION OF AUTHONOMY.

1996, THE FREE PRESS

KENDALL, DIANA

SOCIOLOGY IN OUR TIMES THE ESSENTIALS 3RD EDITION

MAY, TIM

SITUATING SOCIAL THEORY

1996, OPEN UNIVERSITY PRESS

TIONGSON-MAYRINA, KAREN

Guilty! But special concessions for accused show flawed system.

© 1989-2009, Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism

RETRIVE FROM: www.PCIJ.com

OSBORN, RICHARD ET AL.

INTRODUCING SOCIOLOGY

2004, ICON BOOKS LTD.

SAMENOW, STANTON Ph.D.

INSIDE THE CRIMINAL MIND

1984, RANDOM HOUSE, INC.

SARDAR, ZIAUDDIN

VAN LOON, BORIN

INTRODUCING CULTURAL STUDIES

1997, TOTEM BOOKS

SCHUTT, RUSSELL

52
 INVESTIGATING THE SOCIAL WORLD

THE PROCESS AND PRACTICE OF RESEARCH

SWINEDBERG, RICHARD

MAX WEBER’S CONTRIBUTION TO THE ECONOMIC SOCIOLOGY OF

LAW.

2006, CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF ECONOMY AND SOCIETY.

SWINGEWOOD, ALAN

A SHORT HISTORY OF SOCIOLOGICAL THOUGHT

3RD EDITION

2000, PALGRAVE

ZEITLIN, IRVING

IDEOLOGY AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF SOCIOLOGICAL THEORY

1968, PRENTICE HALL INC.

53
 EMMANUEL S. CALIWAN, one of the researcher in this study, WITH HIS STUDENTS
AND SUPERVISOR IN Manila City Jail

___________________________END______________________________

“Men in the masses are gripped

by personal troubles but they are not aware of their true meaning and
source”.

-Charles Wright Mills

54
APPENDICES AND LETTER ATTACHMENTS

(For further references)

55
 THE POLY
M

SOC

FEBRUARY 3, 2010

SUPT. AMELIA A. RAYA

Warden, MCJ female
56
 THE POLY
M

SOC

FEBRUARY 3, 2010

SUPT. HERNAN D. GRA

Warden, MCJ male
57
APPENDIX B. SECONDARY DATA ARCHIEVE

A.) ALABANG BOYS CASE

Retrieved from:

http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2009/jan/06/yehey/opinion/20090106opi5.html

VIRTUALREALITY
By: Tony Lopez
The Alabang Boys
They are the Alabang Boys, alleged drug users and drug dealers, caught by agents
of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) during an entrapment operation
on September 20, 2008. Their case became headline material thanks to a two-week-
long holiday during which there was a news drought. Fighting illegal drugs is one of
the most difficult jobs and one of the most dangerous. In Mexico, enforcers are
routinely murdered by drug lords.

The Philippines ranks first in the percentage of the population aged 15 to 64 as

having used shabu or methamphetamine. A 2004 Dangerous Drugs Board survey
found 6.7 million drug users in the country.

The Philippine Star broke the Alabang Boys story on Dec. 23, 2008 but it was the
Philippine Daily Inquirer which saw its large potential as a campaign story.
Apparently, P50 million was offered to Department of Justice (DOJ) prosecutors in
return for the dismissal of the case and the release of the three, two or three days
before Christmas. The DOJ people, of course, deny receiving any bribe.

Richard Santos Brodett, Jorge Jordana Joseph and Joseph Ramirez Tecson are the
most high profile drug suspects to be arrested by the PDEA after a season in which a
number of drug lords, some of them with mono-syllabic names, got away scot free,
thanks to the Justice department and some influential politicians.

The trio are called Alabang Boys because the drug entrapment took place inside
snooty Ayala Alabang Village, 22 kilometers south of Manila. A PDEA agent was
attempting to buy drugs from Joseph who was assisted allegedly by Brodett who was
inside a car a short distance away.

To his credit, Brodett sensed the setup right away and tried to speed away. PDEA
agents gave chase, firing about seven shots at Brodett’s car. Miraculously Brodett
ducked the fatal bullets. “He knew how to drive even while hiding his head and
being chased by enforcers,” a PDEA agent told me. Otherwise, Brodett would have
been dead by now. This shows how determined the PDEA is in pursuing this case.

58
Tecson was arrested a few hours later in another operation, thanks to information
gathered from Joseph.

There were a number of PDEA agents involved in the chase and I am told even the
Ayala Alabang guards tried to interfere. The Senate should also look into the
possibility of inviting the Alabang guards at the time of the incident for any
corroborative narrative.

The Alabang Boys are now the subject of a tug-of-war between the PDEA and
prosecutors and officials of the Department of Justice under Secretary Raul
Gonzalez. The boys are said to be scions of influential, if not hugely wealthy parents,
relatives and backers. A parent of one of the Alabang suspects is supposed to be
behind a lucrative government contract having to do with running (not of humans).

Secretary Gonzalez sneers at the so-called P50-million bribe offer or outright bribe to
DOJ prosecutors in return for the dismissal of the case. “That means they are richer
than Meralco,” he hisses. PDEA boss retired General Dionisio Santiago retorts: “The
P50 million is cheap in relation to a lifetime in jail. The punishment for illegal drugs
dealing is lifetime imprisonment.”

Also, Santiago says, “these boys have been described as salot [curse] by families of
their victims.” The PDEA chief also hints at possible links of the boys to international
drug syndicates. Santiago says “these are no ordinary boys.”

The father of one of the boys, Johnny Joseph, Johnny Midnight to the many followers
of his unlamented toning days on radio, has gone on a media offensive, defending
his son, Jorge. His son, he admits, “is a social user but not an addict. It’s no big
deal.” To which General Santiago counters: “If I kill someone, can I say that I am just
a social murderer?”

Gonzalez is at a disadvantage in this game. He is in a damn if you do, damn in you

don’t situation. People under him, including an otherwise well-meaning
undersecretary and a veteran state prosecutor, are under a cloud of doubt because
of allegations of payoff and use of pressure that should have led to the release of
the Alabang Boys.

I like the face-off between Secretary Gonzalez and General Santiago. Both are very
competent people with years of dedicated service in government. Gonzalez is a
topnotch lawyer who became famous as a prosecutor of the Aquino-Galman double
murder case. Santiago has a 37-year military career and is a former chief of staff of
the Armed Forces of the Philippines and director of the National Penitentiary. Both
men can be very stubborn, which is often how they get things done.

When Gloria Arroyo named him PDEA chief in April 2006, her instructions to
Santiago were: “Get back to work.”

59
 Retrieved from:

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20090103-
181159/Alabang-Boys-probe-starts-Monday

‘Alabang Boys’ probe starts Monday

Philippine Daily Inquirer

First Posted 01:37:00 01/03/2009

Filed Under: Illegal drugs, PDEA-DOJ bribery issue

MANILA, Philippines—The House of Representatives will start on Monday its investigation of

the government’s war on illegal drugs and its drug enforcement and prosecution to
determine why major operations like those involving the so-called “Alabang Boys” turned
out to be legal bust in the hands of the justice department.

Last week, Sen. Gregorio “Gringo” Honasan, chair of the Senate committee on public order,
safety and illegal drugs, had agreed to look into the case of the “Alabang Boys,” especially
on how to ensure that the enforcement side and prosecution side work on the same page.
This was according to Vicente “Tito” Sotto III, chair of the Dangerous Drugs Board.

To go full blast

Ilocos Norte Rep. Roquito Ablan, chair of the congressional oversight committee on
dangerous drugs, has invited Philippine Drug Enforcement Authority (PDEA) head Dionisio
Santiago, Chief State Prosecutor Jovencito Zuño, and Sotto for an informal hearing on Jan. 5.

“This is just information gathering from the key players. We plan to go full blast once
Congress resumes its session. We have decided to do this quickly because this cannot wait,”
Ablan said.

Ablan was referring to the alleged P50-million bribe that led to the recommendation by state
prosecutors to dismiss the charges against Richard Santos Brodett, Jorge Jordana Joseph
and Joseph Ramirez Tecson.

He noted the dismissal of cases involving high-profile drug operations made by the PDEA
last year.

“We cannot let this continue. We have to find out the reasons why these cases where the
culprits have been caught red-handed are being dismissed so easily,” said Ablan in a phone

60
interview with the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

Discouraging pattern of dismissals

The PDEA caught the “Alabang Boys” peddling Ecstasy pills in a sting operation last
September but this was dismissed by the Department of Justice (DoJ) investigating panel led
by Zuño after three months for insufficiency of evidence.

The dismissal has led to charges of bribery by the PDEA which has prompted President
Macapagal-Arroyo to order that the “Alabang Boys” remain in jail while the case was being
re-investigated.

Ablan said the case of the “Alabang Boys” was not the only concern of the House
committee.

He noted that there seemed to be a discouraging pattern in which the DoJ had failed to
make any of the charges stick on suspects linked to illegal drug trade busted by the PDEA in
2008 such as those in La Union, Laguna, Aurora-Quezon, and Subic Freeport. Gil C.
Cabacungan Jr.

Retrieved from:

http://filipinovoices.com/of-bribery-and-alabang-boys

Of bribery and Alabang Boys

December 30th, 2008 by Patricio Mangubat

61
The alleged 50 million bribe allegedly put out by the parents of the three young
Alabang high society drug pushers show how certain members of the elite view law
and justice in this country. In this jurisdiction, says a lawyer friend, everything is for
sale. You get to power by rigging elections. A vote cost 25 pesos a few days before
elections, but if you negotiated earlier, you’ll probably get it for just 7 pesos.
Congressional posts, especially partylist positions, cost 5 million per seat. If you
have 10 million, you’ll be a mayor of a small town. Don’t worry–you’ll get your 5
million back in a jiffy, especially if there’s an impeachment filed against the
president.

A TRO cost around 250-500,000 pesos. A favorable decision cost roughly 100,000 to
a million, depending on the crime charged. A resolution reportedly cost between
50,000 to as much as 500,000, again depending on the crime

Everything is for sale. For billions worth of loans, we’re willing to surrender our
sovereign rights to the Spratlys and all other mountains containing minerals and
precious ore. For some billions of pesos, we’re willing to surrender even our state
secrets and national security, allowing an emerging Superpower to use our facilities
to eavesdrop on their enemy at the other side of the globe. For a few billions of
loans, we’re willing to accept toxic and hazardous chemical and nuclear wastes. And
for a few more billions of loans, we’re even willing to give up our fishing grounds,
sell our agricultural lands and even our power assets to the highest bidder, err, the
highest briber.

Bribery happens not just in those ritzy restos but also in the dirty backwaters of
philistine Metro Manila. Look, when an accident happens between two motorists,
you’ll hear one of them bragging about some relative in government or how well
connected he or she is. You’ll see motorists flashing some ID, be it media,
government, police or AFP. When all else fails, you’ll find someone reaching for his
wallet and parting his precious 100 pesos.

When I was still a police beat reporter, I witnessed how suspects give dirty money to
corrupt cops. Those arrested for drug charges are the most vulnerable. In thug
speak, we hear of the word “palit-ulo”, a contemptuous practice which allows
arrested suspects to go scot-free in exchange for cash and information on the next
big fish. Probably, these Alabang Boys wanted to enter into such deals, but
fortunately, those members of the PDEA have seen it all and fully determined to end
the drug mafia rule in the Philippines.

As of latest, these Alabang boys will be spending their new year in their new home–
the congested Quezon City jail. I personally commend the PDEA led by retired
General Santiago–sir, you have earned the people’s trust and respect. We
salute you and your boys, especially our fellow Magdalo brothers there who continue
to work to get rid of these scums of the earth.

62
Next time sir, be not entirely lenient or say, humane. Kill those druglords and their
bastard gangs immediately. Burn their labs. Riddle their bodies with bullets. Leave
no trace. Cut their heads off. Mangle their bodies. Lert’s show the world, especially
those Taiwanese, Chinese and Brazilian drug barons that they are persona non grata
here in our country. If I’m Mrs. Arroyo, i’ll order the immediate execution of these
foreign devils.

As for these Alabang boys, the Department of Justice Secretary Raul Gonzales
should not let them get away from this crime. They should learn their lesson. Be not
afraid. No amount of mumbo jumbo, of toning water, of celebrity status nor strong
connections with the palace must ever influence your decision. The evidence against
these boys are overwhelming. They must be allowed to rot in jail. Or suffer the
ultimate penalty of death.

About Author: Patricio Mangubat has written 189 articles. Patricio Mangubat is
a pseudonym. It means "country fight". Yet, the one behind this name is real. He can
be briefly described as a long-time activist as well as a communication strategist. He
once taught at the University of the Philippines and at Dela Salle University. He
blogs at The New Philippine Revolution. Aside from writing, he recently opened a
roast chicken business, Manok King.

Retrieved from:

http://www.senate.gov.ph/press_release/2009/0107_roxas1.asp

Press Release
January 7, 2009

ROXAS: ALABANG BOYS CASE SHOWS RP JUSTICE SCREWED-UP

63
Liberal President Senator Mar Roxas today said President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo
must account for a screwed-up justice system that strongly favors the rich and
powerful as seen in the supposed coddling of the "Alabang Boys" by Department of
Justice officials.

"Palpak ang sistema ng hustisya sa ating bansa dahil imbes na kasuhan ang
maysala gaya ni Jocjoc at nitong mga Alabang Boys ay mas inuuna ng mga opisyal
natin ang pangungurakot (Our justice system is not working because instead of filing
charges against the likes of Jocjoc and the Alabang Boys, our officials give priority to
stealing from government coffers)," Roxas said.

He said the fact that Congress needs to investigate the issue showed that even law
enforcers like the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) distrust the justice
system.

"Nakakahiya at nakakainis na walang ginawa si Gloria para ayusin ang sistema sa

walong taong nakaupo siya bilang Pangulo (It's embarrassing and so frustrating that
Gloria didn't do anything to fix the system in the eight she was President)," he said.
"Paano natin babaguhin ang sistema kung ang mga malalaking isda ay nakakalaya
na lang basta-basta (How do we change this if the big fish get away with it)?

Roxas said the worsening of the illegal drugs problem in the country is clear proof
that the criminal justice system is not working.

He noted that while supply scarcity had forced prices of shabu to skyrocket, demand
for the illicit drug and the number of drug busts nationwide continued to rise based
on records from government agencies.

Information from the Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB) showed that the price of shabu
soared to P70,000 to P80,00 per 25 grams, or known as "bulto" in local street terms,
last year following the seizure last May of 770 kilograms of the drug, estimated to be
worth P4.6 billion, at the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority.

B.) Erap file

September 2007

The Estrada Plunder Trial

Guilty! But special concessions for accused show flawed system

64
by Karen Tiongson-Mayrina

Wednesday, September 12th, 2007 ·

IT MAY take some time before the

debates end in reaction to the much
anticipated landmark ruling on the first
criminal trial involving a former President
of the Republic. On Wednesday, ousted
president Joseph Ejercito Estrada was
found guilty of plunder, but was acquitted
on the perjury charge. His co-accused,
son Jose ‘Jinggoy’ and lawyer Edward S.
Serapio were also acquitted of plunder.

Beyond the verdict, however, thought

should be given on how the trial was
handled by the Sandiganbayan, the
special court that has jurisdiction over FORMER President Joseph ‘Erap’ Estrada
criminal and civil cases involving graft is found guilty of plunder but is acquitted
and other offenses committed by public of the charge of perjury. [PCIJ file photo]
officials and employees.

Court observers agree that while the court tried very hard to ensure fairness
throughout the proceedings, it became lenient to former President Estrada — in
many instances to a fault. In fact, Estrada is now headed back to his Tanay
residence, where he has been staying for the last three years, instead of Muntinlupa,
where he is supposed to go after being convicted.

The Estrada case thus puts in the spotlight once again how the justice system can
become so helpless in the face of a powerful accused. Indeed, the proceedings that
were highly politicized became mournfully drawn out, clogged up as it was in part
with numerous court-granted perks for Estrada that would make ordinary inmates
weep.

Veteran criminal lawyer Mario Ongkiko says, though, that all the special
considerations, even for a former president, set a bad precedent in the justice
system. “Nagkaroon ng special treatment,” he says. “Now you can expect other
accused of prominent stature to ask for some privileges. It’s tailoring the penal
system to suit the needs of the accused.”

Still, in a justice system where cases sleep for decades, a high-profile case finished
in six years — as the Estrada case was — is regarded as a feat. Even the prosecution

65
panel, which tried to ward off every attempt of the Estrada camp to delay the case,
says finishing the trial in six years is already an accomplishment in the Philippine
setting.

“If you will consider the personalities involved — the former President, an incumbent
senator — this could (have gone) on for many years,” says Ombudsman Special
Prosecutor Dennis Villa-Ignacio, head of the prosecution panel. “Estrada is an
acknowledged opposition leader, very influential, maraming (lots of) resources.”

He adds, “If you compare it with the Marcos and Romualdez cases and many other
cases that after 20 years there is still no result, we achieved something — that a
case involving a president can be terminated in a shorter period.”

This is also considering the fact that for more than 80 days — or the equivalent of
close to three months — of the six years that the case dragged on, the accused was
outside his place of detention.

Which has made people like Ongkiko worry. “All persons should be treated equal, all
prisoners should be treated the same,” he points out. “But the equality clause is
violated very openly.”

Court observers believe that the Sandiganbayan’s leniency toward Estrada could
have been a court tactic to sugarcoat an anticipated adverse ruling on the accused.
“At the end of the day, Erap would (then) have no right to say that the
Sandiganbayan persecuted him,” a court observer said.

Ongkiko only goes as far as saying that the Sandiganbayan has the choice to
implement the law but has become lenient to Estrada, obviously bowing to some
“external influence.” He declines to elaborate, but it is well known that
Sandiganbayan justices may be appointed by the President to the Supreme Court.

A litany of concessions

An analysis of data gathered by GMA News Research showed that for at least 36
days, Estrada was seeking surgery, treatment, or a check-up for various ailments
including eye cataracts and infection, ailing knees, pneumonia, even an emergency
tooth extraction.

He was allowed to go to the United States for a knee replacement surgery in

December 2003, although this did not push through because the U.S. Embassy
declined to give him a visa. He opted for Hong Kong, spending 20 days there in a
hotel, even flying in his barber.

The Sandiganbayan, which created a Special Division just to handle Estrada’s case,
also granted the deposed president’s requests to undergo “spiritual healing” in
Caloocan.

66
Estrada got to see his mother Doña Mary many times (the latest being last Sunday)
and was present during her May 2 birthday from 2004 up to this year, when she
turned 102. He himself had a birthday bash in 2005.

He even had a Lenten break in 2004, and was able to spend Christmas and New
Year in his house in Greenhills in 2005 and 2006.

Estrada also did not miss such occasions as the wake of his friend Fernando Poe Jr.,
the anniversary of religious group El Shaddai, the centennial of his hometown San
Juan, and the wedding and oath-taking of his son San Juan Mayor Joseph Victor ‘JV’
Ejercito.

The former president tried as well to ask the court permission for him to visit his
mother every weekend, spend All Saints’ Day outside detention, celebrate son
Jinggoy’s birthday, and personally file a libel case. But these were denied.

The antigraft court also twice denied his requests for house arrest. In July 2004,
however, it reversed these rulings. Estrada has since been detained at his sprawling
resort-like villa in Tanay, Rizal — from his previous confinement in Camp Capinpin,
also in Tanay; Fort Sto. Domingo in Sta. Rosa, Laguna; Camp Crame and Veterans
Memorial Medical Center in Quezon City.

In its previous rulings, the Sandiganbayan said there was no basis in the
Constitution or in law to allow Estrada, who is facing a capital offense, to be held
under house arrest. But Jose Flaminiano of the defense says it is assumed that the
justices of the Special Division studied the motion regarding this. “These motions
are what they call discretionary on the part of the court,” he says. “It’s…for the
court to decide whether to grant or not.”

Besides, the prosecution never challenged many of the orders of the Sandiganbayan
granting his client’s requests, he says. Flaminiano also says that nobody can invoke
equal treatment because no other inmate bothered to file motions similar to theirs.

Flaminiano says the fact that the accused was elected by an overwhelming majority
of Filipinos accords him a certain advantage. “Having been a president, he is imbued
with a peculiar privilege, entitled to some degree of leniency,” he argues. “After all,
he will not escape.”

Delays upon delays

Court observers, however, note that it was the defense that was using one delaying
tactic after another to further stretch the proceedings, which obviously meant more
time for Estrada in detention. “It came to a point when we (didn’t) write the
postponements anymore because it was no longer news,” says a reporter, one of
only two who were able to cover the trial from start to finish.

67
Villa-Ignacio himself says that the proceedings could have been finished in three and
a half years. “Unfortunately, the defense did everything under the rules to delay the
proceedings,” he says.

By the prosecution’s calculations, a year and eight months were wasted on the
Estrada camp’s dilatory tactics alone.

But Flaminiano says that there was no “intentional delay” on the part of the
defense. The Sandiganbayan did not sanction them for delay, he says.

“Delay is part of the rules of procedure,” he says. “There are rules for
postponement. The court never said we intentionally delay cases. The court will not
allow that. We will be sanctioned if we delay. But we were not once admonished.
The only one who is saying that is (Villa-Ignacio).”

For sure, the Philippine judiciary is not lacking on laws that minimize delay in the
processing of cases. The Supreme Court has issued various administrative circulars
ordering all courts to adopt the mandatory continuous trial system.

The Revised Rules on Criminal Procedure provides that trial should continue from
day to day as far as practicable until terminated. “In no case shall the entire period
exceed 180 days from the first day of trial, except as otherwise authorized by the
Supreme Court,” say the Rules.

Republic Act 8493 or the Speedy Trial Act of 1998 further underscores this mandate.
The Estrada case, however, was being tried in the Sandiganbayan, which is not
exactly known for speed. Indeed, while it accounts for a meager portion of the
caseload of the judiciary for 2006, the Sandiganbayan takes the longest average
time in deciding cases — 6.6 years compared to the 1.43 years for the Supreme
Court, 1.32 years for the Court of Appeals, and 2.6 years for the Court of Tax
Appeals.

Still, the Sandiganbayan tried to quicken its pace especially for the Estrada case.
Originally, it conducted trial hearings twice a week, from nine a.m. to 12 noon. In
February 2002, the Special Division issued a resolution modifying the six-hour-a-
week schedule to thrice a week: Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, also from nine
a.m. to 12 noon.

But this was never implemented after the former president and his co-accused, son
Jinggoy, dismissed their lawyers. The prosecution, in a bid to hasten the trial, asked
the anti-graft court to carry out the resolution. The Special Division denied the
motion and the subsequent motion for reconsideration, prompting the prosecution
to elevate the issue to the Supreme Court.

In a resolution issued in October 2004, the High Tribunal dismissed the petition for
lack of merit.

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Both prosecution and defense in the Estrada case would elevate many other
incidents to the Supreme Court. There was also an instance when defense counsel
Rene Saguisag asked for the inhibition of Associate Justice Edilberto Sandoval for
allegedly lobbying for the top post at the Sandiganbayan.

‘Smooth sailing’ for prosecution?

The prosecution actually finished its presentation of witnesses and evidence in one
and a half years, from October 2001 to April 2003. It says it presented 76 witnesses
and around 2,500 pieces of documentary evidence including a paper trail on the
questionable transactions.

It got two Sandiganbayan rulings in its favor. On March 17, 2004, the Special
Division denied Estrada’s request to waive his right to present evidence. The
defense filed a motion for leave to file demurrer to evidence, claiming that the
prosecution has no evidence to pin down their client. On October 4, 2005, the
Sandiganbayan junked Estrada’s petition for bail, in effect acknowledging that the
evidence of the prosecution is strong.

“It was smooth-sailing,” says one of the two reporters who covered the trial from
start to finish, referring to the way the prosecution presented its case. It helped that
many of the prosecution witnesses were already presented during the aborted
impeachment trial of Estrada.

The reporter says that at the Sandiganbayan, prosecution witnesses were presented
according to the accusations in the plunder offense — jueteng payoffs,
misappropriation of tobacco excise tax, commission from the sale of Belle Corp.
shares, and the Jose Velarde account.

“We…never asked for a single postponement,” stresses Villa-Ignacio. “We (were)

always ready for any three to four witnesses.”

But midway into the presentation, in February 2002, Estrada dismissed his lawyers,
delaying the proceedings by around two months. Later that same year, another
delay was blamed on the defense. Villa-Ignacio accused defense lawyers of dawdling
on the cross-examination of the prosecution witness preceding star witness Clarissa
Ocampo. As a result, Ocampo, who arrived in court amid a very tight security on
November 11, 2002, was made to wait until the next hearing day to take the stand.

The defense’s turn

When it was the defense’s turn, Estrada hired a new lawyer in May 2003. But Ateneo
law professor Alan Paguia further delayed the proceedings. His first act: a motion to
dismiss the charges on the grounds that the Sandiganbayan has no jurisdiction on
the case. Six months later, he was indefinitely suspended for attacking the Supreme
Court justices’ decision legitimizing Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s assumption of the
presidency in 2001. (Paguia later figured in the Hello Garci controversy, releasing

69
tapes containing the supposed conversation between President Arroyo and then
Comelec Commissioner Virgilio Garcillano.)

The defense also filed an impeachment complaint against eight Supreme Court
justices led by then Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr. for allegedly conspiring to unseat
Estrada.

Estrada mellowed down, acknowledging the authority and jurisdiction of the

Sandiganbayan, in December 2003, after the Special Division allowed him to travel
to the United States to undergo knee replacement surgery.

Villa-Ignacio says the defense filed more than a hundred of motions in the last six
years. “During the time of (retired) Justice (Anacleto) Badoy they filed motions every
other day,” he says. “It’s part of their strategy to wear out the justices. And it looks
like they succeeded because Badoy eventually took a leave.”

The defense finally started its presentation only sometime in September 2004. It
wrapped up on August 30, 2006, or after two years.

At one point, the Special Division had to reset the hearings several times because
defense lawyers were having a hard time contacting witnesses. Defense lawyers
claimed they were also having difficulty appearing in the twice-a-week court dates
because of the other cases they were handling as private lawyers.

A reporter recalls that one time a justice asked defense counsel Rene Saguisag, “Are
you ready with your witness?” In return, Saguisag addressed the crowd with, “Is
there anyone here who responded to the subpoena?”

“I remember Villa-Ignacio saying sa susunod pati magtataho tatawagin nila (next

time they’ll call in the soybean curd vendor),” says the reporter.

But Flaminiano says, “We have few resources compared to the prosecution panel
that avails of government funds. They can call any government prosecutor while we
are undermanned.”

Estrada, though, was being defended by at least eight big-time law firms headed by
a former Chief Justice, two other justices, a former University of the Philippines law
dean, and other legal luminaries.

Ongkiko, meanwhile, says the slow proceedings could be attributed to the flaws of
the Speedy Trial Act. “It’s more of not followed,” he explains. “Of course, the courts
have many cases and sometimes it’s the fault of the accused. But if you will read
the law, there are many periods of delay excluded in computing the trial time.”

Section 10 of the law excludes delay from other proceedings concerning the
accused including an examination on his/her mental competency or physical
incapacity; trials with respect to his/her other charges; interlocutory appeals; orders

70
of inhibition, change of venue or transfer to other courts; unavailability of the
accused or an essential witness, among others. These are supposed to help ensure
that the rights of the accused are also adequately protected.

But Ongkiko argues, that law is “too difficult to implement.” He says, “They should
simplify it. Like making it strictly 180-day trial(s) — no more, no less.”

A question of defense witnesses

Court observers, however, say that the dilly-dallying of the Estrada camp was but an
indication of a bigger problem: a less-than-solid defense. This, they say, could be
gleaned from the kind of witnesses presented by the defense.

“Puro character witnesses,” comments one reporter, referring to defense witnesses

whose testimonies either discredited the prosecution star witness, former Ilocos Sur
Governor Luis ‘Chavit’ Singson, or extolled Estrada.

The defense also fielded Fr. James Reuter to present before the justices the “other
side” of Estrada before they decided on a case in which the maximum punishment is
death. Reuter testified that Estrada patched things up with the late Manila
Archbishop Jaime Cardinal Sin two weeks before he died.

Former Chief Justice Andres Narvasa also testified that Estrada was a mere “victim
of political persecution” and that the Arroyo administration offered to waive the
charges in exchange for his freedom.

Defense witnesses and opposition senators Edgardo Angara and Aquilino Pimentel
Jr., as well as then senator Alfredo Lim, also gave testimonies. “But they have
nothing to do with the plunder case,” says a journalist who reported on the trial.
“They stated that Erap is a good friend.”

To Villa-Ignacio, the defense was just “killing time” most of the time. “They were
presenting witnesses irrelevant to the case,” he says, referring to about seven
newspaper reporters who were called to testify on the circumstances of the articles
they had written.

“I advised the male reporters to wear their best clothes and the women to go to the
beauty parlor first before going to the courtroom because they might be asked by
the defense to testify,” recalls Villa-Ignacio.

A seasoned court reporter, who was among the journalists called to testify, also
says, “You know the value of a journalist’s testimony. It’s hearsay; it’s not used as
evidence in court.”

The defense presented a total of 80 witnesses. According to Flamianiano, the

prosecution did not even present a single gambling lord to prove that his client
protected gambling or anyone of the alleged depositors in the Jose Velarde account.

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Prosecution star witness Clarissa Ocampo may have seen Estrada sign as Jose
Velarde but did not say that he received money, he adds.

Says Flaminiano: “The prosecution carries the burden of proving reasonable doubt
from start to finish.”

And as it has turned out, the Sandiganbayan justices apparently thought that at
least when it came to the plunder charge against the ex-president, the prosecution
did that job quite well.

© 1989-2009 All rights reserved. Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism.

The ultimate verdict

by Harry Roque

Wednesday, September 12th, 2007 · Share this story

The author is the director of the Institute of International Legal Studies at the
University of the Philippines Law Center and is an assistant professor of law at UP
Diliman.

THE ESTRADA plunder trial is truly unprecedented. It is the first time that a
president, the most powerful official of the land — and, ironically, in Joseph ‘Erap’
Estrada’s case, probably the most popular ever — to be accused of a heinous
criminal act. Estrada was the first Philippine president ever to be impeached. He was
also the first to be placed under detention (albeit in a golden cage of Tanay), the
first to undergo a full-blown criminal prosecution and now, the first to be convicted.

For all his faults though, and despite the verdict of guilt, the Filipino people owe
Estrada some debt of gratitude, if only because he allowed democratic institutions
to function. Lesser mortals would probably have used the power of their office to
completely evade the wheels of justice, or perhaps simply skipped town a la former
agriculture undersecretary Jocelyn ‘Joc Joc’ Bolante. But Estrada stayed, took the
witness stand, and confronted his accusers.

While it is indeed the function of the judiciary to determine guilt or innocence, it is

still up to the sovereign people to accept the legitimacy of any and all judicial
pronouncements. Surely, Edsa I taught us that it is when people lose their belief in
the judiciary that they exercise their sovereign prerogative, toppling even the

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 strongest regimes. It is in this light that the following summary of evidence was
prepared: to guide the people in the exercise of their sovereign prerogatives in
passing their verdict on the legitimacy of the Erap decision. After all, the exercise of
sovereignty should be based also on reason, not just on passion.

Comparative Table of Prosecution and Defense Arguments (People vs. Estrada)

I. PARAGRAPH “a” Amended Info: ALLEGED JUETENG PAY-OFFS

PROSECUTION DEFENSE

A) AS TO JOSEPH ESTRADA A) The prosecution failed to show beyond

IT HAS BEEN INCONTROVERTIBLY
ESTABLISHED THAT THE HUNDREDS OF
MILLIONS OF PESOS OF JUETENG PROTECTION
MONEY THAT HAD BEEN COLLECTED AND
ACCUMULATED AS BRIBES WERE COLLECTED
AND ACCUMULATED ON ACCOUNT OF, AND
FOR, ACCUSED JOSEPH ESTRADA. 1)
ACCUSED JOSEPH ESTRADA ACCESSED AND
EXERCISED OWNERSHIP, CONTROL AND
DISPOSITION OVER THE SAID COLLECTED AND
ACCUMULATED JUETENG PROTECTION MONEY
(p.118)
2) THE VOLUMINOUS DOCUMENTS AND
EVIDENCE PRESENTED BY THE PROSECUTION
ESTABLISHED WITH ABSOLUTE CERTAINTY
THAT SAID JUETENG PROTECTION MONEY
COLLECTED AND ACCUMULATED AS BRIBES
WERE GIVEN TO, AND/OR ENDED UP WITH,
ACCUSED JOSEPH ESTRADA OR HIS
DUMMIES/NOMINEES WHO ARE PERSONS
CLOSELY CONNECTED WITH HIM (p.161)
reasonable doubt that the accused
Estrada committed the act of “amassing,
accumulating and acquiring” wealth,
particularly, the act described in
paragraphs “a” of the “Amended
Information” (Jueteng Bribery) (p.78) 1)
Principal witness Singson had strong
motive to get back at Pres. Estrada
(p.114)
a) Singson himself testified that:
he asked Ang to reserve the franchise or
license of Bingo 2-balls in Ilocos Sur
Ang instead gave the Bingo-2 franchise to
Singson’s political rivals
b) Luis Asistio testified that:
Singson told him about the former’s
disappointment after the Bingo-2 ball was
given to his political rivals

a) Luis Singson testified that: c) Alfredo Lim testified that:

he went to Estrada’s house in Polk St. and
met Estrada, Charlie Ang and Bong Pineda
there.
he and Ang were asked by Estrada to deliver
jueteng money to him
he and Ang started collecting jueteng money
when he and Asistio talked to Singson
about the attempt on the latter’s life,
Singson said that he is mad at Ang
because the latter gave the Bingo-2 ball
franchise to his opponents
d) Estrada testified that:

73
in August 98 Singson was against the legalization of
jueteng
he started delivering jueteng money in
September 98 2) Testimony of Singson comes from a
polluted source, as Singson himself has
he delivered jueteng money to Estrada every confessed to covering up his crimes
15 days (p.119)
he was the lone collector starting November 3) ‘Ledgers’ relied on by Singson are
98 due to a disagreement between Estrada hearsay
and Ang
4) No evidence was presented that
he listed all the collections and expenses in a accused protected or tolerated Jueteng
ledger (p.126)
he personally delivered a total of P200M to a) Estrada testified that:
Estrada
he never met Singson, Pineda and Ang in
Yolanda Ricaforte is Estrada’s auditor for the Polk St.
jueteng money
he never received P5M or P10M from
Ricaforte prepared the ledger from August Singson every 15 days
1999 to August 2000
he never knew about the ledgers of
he transferred the remaining balance of the Singson
jueteng money to Estrada’s auditor, Yolanda
Ricaforte, in August 1999 he never received money from
Carmencita Itchon and Emma Lim
jueteng collections from August 1999 until
August 2000 were deposited to Estrada’s Yolanda Ricaforte was not his jueteng
bank accounts, which were in Ricaforte’s auditor
name
he never ordered Singson to give P5M to
there was an attempt on his life to prevent Laarni Enriquez and P65M to William
him from making an expose. Two mobile Gatchalian
patrols attempted to ambush him in San
Marcelino St., Manila 5) Foundation was a legitimate
educational foundation aimed to assist
he was instructed by Estrada to give P200M to Muslim youth (p.128)
Atty. Edward Serapio
a) Danilo Reyes (a trustee of the EMYF)
b) Emma Lim testified that: testified that:

she was instructed by Singson to collect Dr. De Guzman organized the EMYF
money from Bong Pineda and Jinggoy Estrada
he was told by Dr. De Guzman that the

74
c) Carmencita Itchon testified that:
she received 12 collections from the
messengers of Singson and Anton Prieto
d) Federico Artates (a security escort of
Singson) testified that:
he collected P5M from Bong Pineda
the P5M was delivered to the presidential
residence by Emma Lim
e) Jamis Singson (a personal aide of Singson)
testified that:
he accompanied Artates when the latter
collected money from Bong Pineda
he accompanied Lim when she delivered the
money to Malacañang
f) Vicente Amistad (a security escort of
Singson) testified that:
he collected money from Bong Pineda in 1999
and 2000
he collected money from a security escort of
then Mayor Jinggoy
he delivered the money to Singson
g) Edelquin Nantes, Rosario Bautista, Shakira
Yu, Vergel Pabillon, Edgardo Lim Alcaraz and
Emma Aguila Gonzales (Equitable-PCI Bank
branch managers) testified that:
Yolanda Ricaforte opened, maintained and
later closed saving accounts in the bank
Ricaforte applied for manager’s and cashier’s
checks
h) Antonio Martin Fortuno (Equitable-PCI Bank
Pacific Star branch manager) testified that:
75
foundation is part of Estrada’s vision to
held develop young Muslim leaders and
that it will be among the beneficiaries of
the ERAP Golf Cup
the foundation’s funding came from the
P100,000 contributions of the
incorporators and the P10M received
from the ERAP Golf Cup in the summer of
2000
the foundation received a P200M
donation
he was told by Atty. Serapio that the
donor wanted to remain anonymous
b) Salvador Domona, Sohayle Hadji
Marangit, Janice Halim Negrosa, Roque
Morales testified that:
they were scholars of the EMYF
c) Estrada testified that:
his Erap Muslim Youth Foundation is not a
bogus foundation intended to launder
jueteng protection money
he was not a signatory to any of the
foundation’s bank accounts
6) Singson’s testimony replete with
inconsistencies and lies (p.130)
a) Noel Vallo (police chief inspector)
testified that:
a vehicle beat the red light
they pursued the vehicle and stopped it
they discovered that Gov. Singson was
inside the vehicle
he called Police Supt. Rodolfo Azurin

on April 25, 2000 checks were deposited into
a “bearer” account at his branch
the checks were withdrawn from April 27,
2000 up to May 11, 2000
the withdrawn amounts were deposited into
the Erap Muslim Youth Foundation maintained
at Equitable-PCI Bank in Strata 100
i) Aida Basila (Equitable-PCI Bank branch
manager) testified that:
there were 28 inter-branch deposits from their
branch amounting to P200M made into the
Erap Muslim Youth Foundation’s savings
account from April 21 to May 11, 2000
B) AS TO JINGGOY ESTRADA
ACCUSED JINGGOY ESTRADA’S COMPLICITY BY
DIRECT PARTICIPATION AND/OR
INDISPENSABLE COOPERATION IN THE SERIES
OF TWICE-A-MONTH COLLECTION AND
RECEIPT OF JUETENG PROTECTION MONEY AS
BRIBE, OWING TO ACCUSED JOSEPH ESTRADA
HAVING TAKEN UNDUE ADVANTAGE OF HIS
POSITION AND AUTHORITY, HAD BEEN
INCONTROVERTIBLY ESTABLISHED. (p.176)
1) THE FOREGOING COMPLICITY BY DIRECT
AND/OR INDISPENSABLE PARTICIPATION OF
ACCUSED JINGGOY ESTRADA IN THE SERIES
76
because Singson complained that they
are being harassed
b) Rodolfo Azurin (police superintendent)
testified that:
he immediately convinced Singson to
come with them to the Western Police
District headquarters in Manila
when they reached the WPD
headquarters, they issued a traffic
violation ticket to Singson’s driver and
confiscated the sirens and blinkers
attached to the vehicle
Singson complained to the media present
that they were being harassed because
he was not in favor of the PAGCOR Bingo
2-ball
c) Arturo Paglinawan (police
superintendent) testified that:
the blotter showed no recorded complaint
by Singson against the police who were in
Marcelino St.
7) No independent corroborating
evidence to Singson’s testimony (p.142)
B) Assuming the act was committed, the
particular act described in paragraph “a”
(on jueteng bribery) was committed by
Governor Chavit Singson, not by accused
Estrada.
a) Jinggoy testified that:
he was never a jueteng collector for
Bulacan
he never kept P1M from his monthly
 OF TWICE-A-MONTH COLLECTION AND
RECEIPT OF JUETENG PROTECTION MONEY AS
BRIBES BETRAYS A PATTERN OF BEHAVIOR
AND/OR PARTICIPATION IN, AND BENEFIT
FROM, ACCUSED JOSEPH ESTRADA’S OTHER
ILLEGAL ACTIVITIES, INCLUDING THE
DIVERSION OF PUBLIC FUNDS CONSTITUTING
THE SHARE OF ILOCOS SUR IN TOBACCO
EXCISE TAXES UNDER REPUBLIC ACT NO.
7171. (p.223) collections

a) Luis Singson testified that:
Jinggoy Estrada also received jueteng money
and even collected from Bulacan
b) Emma Lim testified that:
he did not know Jamis Singson, Emma
Lim and Vicente Amistad
he never asked Singson to exclude him
from the expose

she was instructed by Singson to collect

money from Bong Pineda and Jinggoy Estrada

she was given a United Overseas Bank

personalized check by Jinggoy in March 2000

she deposited in Singson’s account the check

given by Jinggoy

II. PARAGRAPH “b” Amended Info: MISAPPROPRIATION OF R.A.7171 FUNDS

PROSECUTION DEFENSE

THE PLAN TO DIVERT, CONVERT AND
MISAPPROPRIATE PUBLIC FUNDS AMOUNTING
TO ONE HUNDRED THIRTY MILLION PESOS
(P130,000,000.00) DERIVED FROM THE
SHARE OF ILOCOS SUR IN THE TOBACCO
EXCISE TAXES COLLECTED UNDER REPUBLIC
ACT NO. 7171 ORIGINATED FROM ACCUSED
JOSEPH ESTRADA. (p.310) A) THE EVIDENCE
ON RECORD SHOWS THAT PUBLIC FUNDS
AMOUNTING TO ONE HUNDRED THIRTY
MILLION PESOS (P130,000,000.00) WAS
A) The prosecution failed to show beyond
reasonable doubt that the accused
Estrada committed the act of “amassing,
accumulating and acquiring” wealth,
particularly, the act described in
paragraphs “b” of the “Amended
Information” (Misappropriation of
R.A.7171 Funds) (p.145) 1) Testimony of
Gov. Singson on withdrawal and delivery
of money patently incredible (p.157)

77
DIVERTED, CONVERTED AND/OR
MISAPPROPRIATED FOR PRIVATE USE AT THE
INSTANCE OF ACCUSED JOSEPH ESTRADA.
(p.314)
1) Luis Singson testified that:
he agreed to give Estrada 10% of the releases
from the Tobacco Excise Tax
Ang told him that the President needed
P130M out of the released P200M
he agreed to Estrada’s request because he
was afraid that the latter might stop the
release of other funds in the future
Ang gave him the names of Alma Alfaro,
Eleuterio Tan and Delia Rajas so that the
P130M will be coursed through their bank
accounts
he and Ang delivered the money to Estrada’s
house in Polk St.
Estrada received P70M
2) Ma. Elizabeth Balagot and Caridad Rodenas
(Land Bank branch managers) testified that:
P130M was transferred from LBP Vigan to LBP
Shaw
Alma Alfaro encashed P40M, while three
manager’s check, totaling P90 M, was issued
for Eleuterio Tan
3) Prosecution: the three manager’s checks
(totaling P90 M) were deposited on 31 August
1998 to Eleuterio Tan’s Westmont Bank
account and were withdrawn in varying
amounts on the same day.
4) Federico Artates and Jamis Singson
testified that:
78
a) Estrada testified that:
he did not ask for 10% of the Tobacco
Excise Tax
he knew Atong Ang but Ang never
delivered P130M to his house
his wife and son Jinggoy were never given
a portion of the P130M
during the alleged time of delivery, he
was already staying at Malacañang
Singson’s charge is politically motivated
Singson was blaming him for the
misappropriation of the funds
the money could not fit four boxes as
stated by the prosecution witnesses
Ang could not carry the money because
its weight is equivalent to the weight of 2
½ sacks of rice
b) Jinggoy Estrada testified that:
he never received a portion of the P130M
Tobacco Excise Tax
2) The prosecution’s remaining evidence
reveal Chavit Singson’s complicity in the
withdrawal of the tobacco excise tax
funds, nothing more (p.163)
3) The minor prosecution witnesses do
not prove the guilt of Pres. Estrada
beyond reasonable doubt (p.179)
B) Assuming the act was committed, the
particular act described in paragraph “b”
(on the Misappropriation of R.A.7171
Funds) was committed by Governor
Chavit Singson, not by accused Estrada.
 they saw the four boxes of money withdrawn
by Tan taken out of Westmont Bank

the money was transported to the house of

Ang’s mother before it was delivered, on the
same day, to Estrada’s house in Polk St.

B) THE EVIDENCE ON RECORD SHOWS THAT

SEVENTY MILLION PESOS (P70,000,000.00) OF
SUCH PUBLIC FUNDS DIVERTED, CONVERTED
AND/OR MISAPPROPRIATED FOR PRIVATE USE
WAS GIVEN TO ACCUSED JOSEPH ESTRADA,
WHILE THE REMAINING AMOUNTS OF TWENTY
MILLION PESOS (P20,000,000.00) WENT TO
HIS WIFE (LOI EJERCITO), FIFTEEN MILLION
PESOS (P15,000,000.00) WENT TO HIS SON
(ACCUSED JINGGOY ESTRADA), AND TWENTY-
FIVE MILLION PESOS (P25,000,000.00) WENT
TO HIS FRIEND (ACCUSED ATONG ANG).
(p.325)

C) THE BARE DENIALS OF ACCUSED JOSEPH

ESTRADA CANNOT OUTWEIGH THE CHAIN OF
DOCUMENTARY EVIDENCE WHICH PROVES
THAT HE BEGAN THE SERIES OF EVENTS
WHICH LED TO HIS MISAPPROPRIATION OF
PUBLIC FUNDS AMOUNTING ONE HUNDRED
THIRTY MILLION PESOS (P130,000,000.00).
(p.327)

III. PARAGRAPH “c” Amended Info: COMMISSION FROM SALE OF BELLE SHARES

PROSECUTION DEFENSE

AS CLEARLY BORNE BY THE EVIDENCE, A) The prosecution failed to show beyond

ACCUSED ESTRADA TOOK UNDUE reasonable doubt that the accused
ADVANTAGE OF HIS OFFICIAL POSITION, Estrada committed the act of “amassing,
AUTHORITY, RELATIONSHIP, AND INFLUENCE accumulating and acquiring” wealth,
BY DIRECTING, ORDERING AND COMPELLING particularly, the act described in
THE PRESIDENT AND CHAIRMAN OF THE paragraphs “c” of the “Amended
SOCIAL SECURITY SYSTEM (SSS), TO Information” (receiving commission from
PURCHASE THREE HUNDRED TWENTY-NINE the sale of Belle shares) (p.182) 1)

79
MILLION EIGHT HUNDRED FIFTY-FIVE
THOUSAND (329,855,000) SHARES OF STOCK
OF BELLE CORPORATION IN THE AMOUNT OF
SEVEN HUNDRED FORTY-FOUR MILLION SIX
HUNDRED TWELVE THOUSAND AND FOUR
HUNDRED FIFTY PESOS (P744,612,450.00).
(p.360) 1) Carlos Arellano (former SSS
President) testified that:
he and Ding Pascual, were instructed by
Estrada to look at the Belle shares
he, in turn, instructed the SSS investment
committee to review the Belle shares
he met Estrada a week after in Malacañang
Palace, where he also saw Jaime Dichaves
the SSS investment committee concluded that
the Belle shares is a good investment
SSS bought 249 million Belle shares valued at
P783M or an average price of P3.14 per share
2) Federico Pascual (former GSIS President)
testified that:
he was asked by Estrada during a meeting at
Malacañang if GSIS could buy Belle shares
while he was in London, he was again asked
by Estrada, through the telephone, if GSIS
could buy Belle shares
he called the GSIS Manila office and
instructed Reynaldo Palmiery to study the
possible purchase of Belle shares
when he returned to the Philippines, GSIS
already purchased a total of 351 million Belle
shares valued at P1.1B, equivalent to one
board seat in the corporation
3) Rizaldy Capulong (Assistant Vice President
for the SSS Securities Trading and
80
Transaction was perfectly valid and legal,
and no commission was given to Accused
(p.194)
2) SSS purchase of Belle shares valid and
regular (p.196)
a) Rizaldy Capulong testified that:
the purchase of Belle shares was for
portfolio trading only
SSS had been buying and selling shares
even before October 21, 1999
3) Likewise, GSIS purchase was made in
accordance with investment policy and
rules (p.203)
a) Justice Hermogenes Concepcion (GSIS
chair from July 1998 to June 2004)
testified that:
the purchase of Belle shares satisfies the
basic requirements of investment of GSIS
funds
the purchase of Belle shares did not
exceed the limits laid down by GSIS
internal guidelines
he was not informed by Pascual about the
latter’s conversation with Estrada
concerning the Belle shares
no one from the board of trustees told
him that Estrada pressured them to buy
Belle shares
b) Reynaldo Palmiery (then chair of the
GSIS investment committee) testified
that:
the purchase of Belle shares was made
only after the review and evaluation of
Management Department) testified that:
the purchase of the Belle shares on October
21, 1999 was perfectly valid transaction and
in order
4)Willie Ng Ocier (then Vice-Chair of Belle
Corp.) testified that:
he talked with Jaime Dichavez in 1999
he was assured by Dichavez that GSIS and
SSS will purchase the shares of Belle Corp.
he was told by Dichavez that Estrada was
asking for a P200M profit commission
he did not ask Estrada to confirm what
Dichavez told him
A) AS CLEARLY BORNE BY THE EVIDENCE,
ACCUSED ESTRADA TOOK UNDUE
ADVANTAGE OF HIS OFFICIAL POSITION,
AUTHORITY, RELATIONSHIP, AND INFLUENCE
BY DIRECTING, ORDERING AND COMPELLING
THE PRESIDENT AND GENERAL MANAGER OF
THE GOVERNMENT SERVICE INSURANCE
SYSTEM (GSIS) TO PURCHASE THREE
HUNDRED FIFTY ONE MILLION EIGHT
HUNDRED SEVENTY-EIGHT THOUSAND
(351,878,000) SHARES OF STOCKS OF BELLE
CORPORATION IN THE AMOUNT OF ONE
BILLION ONE HUNDRED TWO MILLION NINE
HUNDRED SIXTY-FIVE THOUSAND SIX
HUNDRED SEVEN AND 50/100 PESOS
(P1,102,965,607.50). (p.376)
B) ACCUSED JOSEPH ESTRADA TOOK UNDUE
ADVANTAGE OF HIS OFFICIAL POSITION,
AUTHORITY, RELATIONSHIP, AND INFLUENCE
AND DIRECTED, ORDERED AND COMPELLED
THE GSIS AND THE SSS TO PURCHASE THE
81
the investment committee
GSIS had been trading in Belle shares
since 1993
4) No evidence that accused ever
received any percentage or commission
from sale of Belle shares (p.218)
a) Estrada testified that:
he did not pressure Arellano and Pascual
concerning the Belle shares
he only asked Arellano if it would be
beneficial to the government to buy the
Belle shares
he was told by Pascual that the corporate
finance department will study it
he called Pascual but their conversation
was regarding the delayed GSIS benefits
he might have called Arellano and told
him to also study the purchase of Belle
shares
he saw Ocier in Tagaytay Highlands but
they never talked about commissions
B) Assuming the act was committed, the
particular act described in paragraph “c”
(receiving commission from the sale of
Belle shares) was committed by Carlos
Arellano and Federico Pascual
 SAID SHARES OF STOCK IN BELLE
CORPORATION FOR HIS PERSONAL GAIN AND
BENEFIT AND TO AMASS, ACCUMULATE AND
ACQUIRE BY AND FOR HIMSELF, ILL-GOTTEN
WEALTH, THEREBY UNJUSTLY ENRICHING
HIMSELF AT THE EXPENSE AND TO THE
DAMAGE OF GSIS, SSS, THEIR MEMBERS, THE
FILIPINO PEOPLE AND THE REPUBLIC OF THE
PHILIPPINES. (p.382)

C) ACCUSED JOSEPH ESTRADA COLLECTED

AND RECEIVED COMMISSIONS OR
PERCENTAGES BY REASON OF SAID
PURCHASES OF SHARES OF STOCK OF BELLE
CORPORATION IN THE AMOUNT OF ONE
HUNDRED EIGHTY-NINE MILLION SEVEN
HUNDRED THOUSAND PESOS
(P189,700,000.00) WHICH BECAME PART OF
THE DEPOSITS TO THE “JOSE VELARDE”
ACCOUNT IN EQUITABLE-PCIBANK. (p.392)

D) THE PURCHASE OF THE BELLE SHARES

WAS BLATANTLY IMPROVIDENT, MANIFESTLY
DISADVANTAGEOUS AND WAS EXECUTED
DUE ONLY TO THE UNDUE PRESSURE
EXERTED BY ACCUSED JOSEPH ESTRADA ON
THE TOP OFFICIALS OF GSIS AND SSS;
HOWEVER, EVEN ASSUMING THE SALE ITSELF
TO BE REGULAR, ACCUSED JOSEPH ESTRADA
IS STILL GUILTY OF PLUNDER FOR THE SERIES
OF UNDUE PRESSURE AND INFLUENCE AND
AUTHORITY EXERTED OVER MESSRS.
PASCUAL AND ARELLANO, FOR THE SOLE
PURPOSE OF RECEIVING P189,700,000.00 IN
COMMISSIONS, WHICH AMOUNT ACCUSED
JOSEPH ESTRADA ACTUALLY RECEIVED.
(p.403)

IV. PARAGRAPH “d” Amended Info: THE ‘JOSE VELARDE’ ACCOUNT

PROSECUTION DEFENSE

82
A) ACCUSED JOSEPH ESTRADA, WITH
ABSOLUTE CERTAINTY, IS “JOSE VELARDE”: 1)
ACCUSED JOSEPH ESTRADA, DURING HIS
TESTIMONY, ADMITTED HAVING SIGNED AS
“JOSE VELARDE” THE EQUITABLE-PCIBANK
TRUST DOCUMENTS IN THE PRESENCE OF MS.
CLARISSA OCAMPO AND ATTY. MANUEL
CURATO. (p.424)
2) DOCUMENTS AND WITNESSES ATTEST TO
THE FACT THAT NUMEROUS TRANSACTIONS
IN THE VELARDE ACCOUNT INVOLVING
DEPOSITS ALMOST ONE BILLION PESOS
(P1,000,000,000.00) WERE MADE THROUGH
LUCENA “BABY” ORTALIZA, ACCUSED JOSEPH
ESTRADA’S TRUSTED PERSONAL SECRETARY
AND DESIGNATED HANDLER OF THE
ESTRADAS’ BANK ACCOUNTS. (p.463)
a) Teresa Barcelona (Equitable-PCI Bank
Greenhills-Ortigas Branch Manager) testified
that:
Baby Ortaliza made inter-branch deposits to
the Jose Velarde account
b) Melissa Pascual (former Equitable-PCI Bank
Viramall Branch bank teller) testified that:
she processed the checks deposited by
Ortaliza to the Jose Velarde account
c) Glyzelyn Bejec testified that:
several checks were deposited in the Jose
Velarde account
3) EVIDENCE FOUND DURING THE
HONORABLE COURT’S OCULAR INSPECTION
OF THE “BORACAY MANSION” POINTED TO
ACCUSED JOSEPH ESTRADA AS THE
BENEFICIAL AND ACTUAL OWNER OF THE
“BORACAY MANSION”; FURTHER, THE BANK
DOCUMENTS SHOW WITHOUT DOUBT THAT
83
A) The prosecution failed to show beyond
reasonable doubt that the accused
Estrada committed the act of “amassing,
accumulating and acquiring” wealth,
particularly, the act described in
paragraphs “d” of the “Amended
Information” (the ‘Jose Velarde’ account)
(p.231) 1) There are missing elements in
the Prosecution evidence which cannot
be supplied by unreasonable inferences
(p.244)
2) Accused Joseph Estrada cannot be
linked to Jose Velarde account (p.249)
a) Estrada testified that:
he signed documents before Ocampo but
the signing was a request of his friend,
Jaime Dichaves
he was assured by Dichaves that it was
just an arrangement with the bank
ensuring that Dichavez would pay the
loan on time
3) True owner of Velarde account
positively identified as Dichaves (p.256)
a) Romuald Dy Tang (former treasurer
and executive vice president of Equitable-
PCI Bank) testified that:
it was Jaime Dichaves who opened the
Jose Velarde account
he and Betty Bagsit handled the Velarde
account for Dichaves
he advised Dichaves to prepare a letter
for the records when Dichaves told him
that he wanted to open an account under
the name of Jose Velarde
he sometimes saw Dichaves in the bank
THE “BORACAY MANSION” WAS PURCHASED
BY MONEY WITHDRAWN FROM “JOSE
VELARDE’S” CURRENT ACCOUNT NO. 0110-
25495-4 IN EQUITABLE-PCIBANK IN THE
AMOUNT OF ONE HUNDRED FORTY-TWO
MILLION PESOS (PHP142,000,000.00). (p.507)
4) SPECIAL TRUST ACCOUNT NO. 858 AT THE
URBAN BANK ADMITTEDLY IN THE NAME
ACCUSED JOSEPH ESTRADA’S SON, JOSE
VICTOR EJERCITO, FUNDED THE “JOSE
VELARDE” ACCOUNT IN THE AMOUNT OF AT
LEAST ONE HUNDRED EIGHTY-TWO MILLION
PESOS (PHP182,000,000.00). (p.537)
5) THE FACT IS, IT IS CUSTOMARY FOR
ACCUSED JOSEPH ESTRADA TO SIGN AS
“JOSE” (p.553)
a) Clarissa Ocampo (Equitable-PCI
official) testified that:
she brought to Malacañang on February 4,
2000 an Investment Management Agreement
she saw Estrada sign the Investment
Management Agreement using the name
“Jose Velarde” to extend a loan to Wellex, Inc.
B) ACCUSED JOSEPH ESTRADA OPENED,
MAINTAINED AND OWNED SAVINGS ACCOUNT
NO. 0160-62501-5 IN THE NAME OF “JOSE
VELARDE” AND CAUSED THE DEPOSIT OF ILL-
GOTTEN WEALTH AMOUNTING TO THREE
BILLION THREE HUNDRED EIGHTY-NINE
MILLION SEVEN HUNDRED NINETY-ONE
THOUSAND SIX HUNDRED FIFTY-NINE AND
09/100 PESOS (PHP3,389,791,659.09). (p.556)
1) PART OF SUCH ILL-GOTTEN WEALTH WAS
DERIVED FROM ACCUSED JOSEPH ESTRADA’S
UNLAWFUL COMMISSION FROM THE
when the latter made withdrawals from
the Velarde account
b) Betty Bagsit testified that:
Dy Tang was the account officer of Jaime
Dichaves
she sometimes handled the account of
Dichaves
there is no Jose Velarde, it was Dichaves
himself
all transactions in the Velarde account
were coursed to Dichaves
4) Inference that Ortaliza deposited for
Bank accused Estrada is based on conjecture
(p.258)
5) Court cannot assume that the J. V.
Ejercito account belongs to accused
Joseph Estrada (p.260)
B) Assuming the act was committed, the
particular act described in paragraph “d”
(the ‘Jose Velarde’ account) was
committed by nameless and unidentified
individuals
84
 SEPARATE PURCHASES BY THE SOCIAL
SECURITY SYSTEM (SSS) AND THE
GOVERNMENT SERVICE INSURANCE SYSTEM
(GSIS) OF BELLE CORPORATION SHARES,
WHICH COMMISSION AMOUNTED TO ONE
HUNDRED EIGHTY-NINE MILLION SEVEN
HUNDRED THOUSAND PESOS
(PHP189,700,000.00) OBTAINED BY A SERIES
OF UNDUE PRESSURE, INFLUENCE AND
AUTHORITY EXERTED UPON THE TOP
OFFICIALS OF SOCIAL SECURITY SYSTEM (SSS)
AND THE GOVERNMENT SERVICE INSURANCE
SYSTEM (GSIS) (p.571)

C) ACCUSED JOSEPH ESTRADA’S BARE

DENIALS AND SELF-SERVING HEARSAY
ALLEGATIONS CANNOT OVERTURN THE
OVERWHELMING WEIGHT OF EVIDENCE
PRESENTED BY THE PROSECUTION THAT HE IS
“JOSE VELARDE.” (p.580)

OTHER DISCUSSIONS

PROSECUTION DEFENSE

V. ON ALLEGED CONSTITUTIONAL DEFENSES: The “Amended Information” does not

PREMATURE LOSS OF ALLEGED IMMUNITY sufficiently charge accused Estrada of
AND ALLEGED SELECTIVE PROSECUTION plunder under Republic Act No. 7080. A)
(p.597) A) A CLAIM OF PREMATURE LOSS OF The information does not allege that the
IMMUNITY IS UNAVAILING AND HAD LONG alleged act of “amassing, accumulating
BEEN DISCREDITED BY THE SUPREME and acquiring” of wealth was by means
COURT(p.597) which constitute “a combination or a
series of overt or criminal acts or similar
B) A CLAIM OF PREJUDICIAL PUBLICITY IS schemes”;
LIKEWISE UNAVAILING AND HAD ALSO BEEN
DISCREDITED BY THE SUPREME COURT B) The specific acts alleged to have been
(p.600) used as the means of “amassing,
accumulating and acquiring” wealth
C) A CLAIM OF SELECTIVE PROSECUTION IS (paragraphs a, b, c and d of the
ALSO IRRELEVANT AND IMMATERIAL “Amended Information”) on their face do
CONSIDERING THAT IT IS NOT AN not appear to constitute a combination or
ACCEPTABLE DEFENSE IN CRIMINAL a series of criminal or overt acts or similar

85
PROSECUTIONS UNDER PHILIPPINE
JURISDICTION (p.603)

D) A CLAIM OF SELECTIVE, INVIDIOUS AND

HASTY PROSECUTION IS ALSO NOW
IRRELEVANT AND IMMATERIAL CONSIDERING
THAT THE SAME GOES INTO THE SUFFICIENCY
OF THE PRELIMINARY INVESTIGATION, THE
FINDING OF PROBABLE CAUSE AND THE
VALIDITY OF THE INFORMATION — MATTERS
THAT HAVE LONG BEEN SETTLED NOT ONLY
BY THE HONORABLE COURT, BUT ALSO BY
THE SUPREME COURT (p.606)

E) ASSUMING FOR THE SAKE OF ARGUMENT

THAT A CLAIM FOR SELECTIVE PROSECUTION schemes.”
IS AN AVAILABLE DEFENSE IN CRIMINAL
PROSECUTIONS UNDER PHILIPPINE
JURISDICTION, THE SAME IS STILL IRRELEVANT
AND IMMATERIAL (p.611)

1) THE PROSECUTION HAS NEVER ENGAGED

IN SELECTIVE PROSECUTION. (p.613)

2) SELECTIVE PROSECUTION, EVEN IF TRUE

AND AVAILING, GOES MERELY INTO THE
MATTER OF REGULARITY IN THE
PERFORMANCE OF OFFICIAL FUNCTIONS, BUT
DOES NOT ALLOW AN ACCUSED, OTHERWISE
GUILTY BASED ON THE EVIDENCE, TO ESCAPE
CRIMINAL LIABILITY (p.617)

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86
APPENDIX C. SUMMARY OF DATA, INTERVIEW SCHEDULE

87
1
INTERVIEW SCHEDULE:

NAME: ____________________
NICK/CODE NAME: _________
ADDRESS:
CURRENT: __________
PROVINCIAL: ________
WORK/JOB BEFORE: _______
EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT:

FILED COMPLAINT: _________

____________________
COURT: ___________ BRANCH
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