Another ‘only in the Philippines’ case

This paper’s headline said it all: “After 18 years, 9 found guilty in Ozone inferno” (Front Page, 11/21/14). And when relatives said “it’s not yet over for the next 10 years,” they were being too conservative. Motions for reconsideration are required before petitions for review can be lodged by the various defense counsels at the Supreme Court (which is a certainty). That could take another five years for the Sandiganbayan to resolve.

Then the petitions to the Supreme Court are expected to hibernate for another 10 or 15 years! There is simply no telling the Court to speed up the decision-making process, not even by the plain language of the Constitution, whose explicit mandate for it to decide cases within two years is deemed merely a suggestion and therefore constantly ignored!

The case basically involved documentary evidence. The Sandiganbayan noted the “slapdash approval of the building permits” marked by a lackadaisical screening of the paper requirements.” The “bad faith and partiality toward the applicant” were quite evident from a mere scrutiny of the paper trail. And that took 18 years to see? By any standard of justice, that is unacceptable—whatever the cause for the delay! That’s just the case of the Ozone Disco Club whose issues are far more simple. So how would it be with the rather complicated “pork barrel scam” cases? From the Sandiganbayan to the Supreme Court, justice takes 50 years to realize? OMG, only in the Philippines!

—JEREMIAS H. TOBIAS,
[email protected]