Why are poor people facing litigation so ignorant of the court requirements and proceedings?
More often than not, they don’t know what to do upon arrest.
It is the right of every person to know their legal rights so as not to be victimized by injustice.
Certainly, innocence is no excuse, but in the reality of poverty and lack of education, the opposite is the case.
Let us not be surprised that there are those accused who are languishing in jails.
Worse, there are innocent people suffering in our overcrowded jails who have no means to defend themselves and do not know what to do. Such injustice!
Education is the solution to this problem. It is a universal right. The K-to-12 program should incorporate education of all rights: children, human, women, animal and environmental protection.
These should include judicial rights even at the early stage of education. Teachers, on the other hand, should upgrade their knowledge and skills/modules in teaching legal rights.
Let us give our legal luminaries the opportunity to recommend at what level of schooling/curriculum should legal requirements and procedures be taught to students. This is not just a matter of knowing the Bill of Rights.
Paging the Supreme Court, Congress, Department of Education and all agencies of government to give our students legal rights education.
Education is Justice!
BENITO QUILLOY, political detainee, Camp Crame, Cubao, Quezon City