SC to prosecutors, judges: Speed up justice system

Chief Justice Reynato Puno told Caloocan City prosecutors and judges to formulate plans that could expedite the delivery of justice, especially for indigents accused of various crimes.

Puno issued this directive as he led the Supreme Court’s Justice on Wheels project at the Caloocan City Jail Friday, which resulted in the release of nine prisoners, the conviction of five inmates for kidnapping, and 20 other prisoners scheduled for release pending the issuance of clearances from local courts.

Superintendent Lyndon Torres, the local prison facility warden, said that during Friday’s activity, Puno, local government officials headed by Mayor Enrico Echiverri, the police led by Northern Police District director Chief Superintendent Pedro Tango, prosecutors and judges tackled problems affecting the speedy resolution of cases in courts.

“Mayor Echiverri, who is very supportive of the program, even offered a P50,000 incentive to the local courts that could come up with schemes which would result in the prompt delivery of justice, particularly to the indigents,” Torres told The STAR.

Torres said the mayor announced the incentive would be awarded in December.

“Chief Justice Puno recognized the mayor’s offer and suggested that he might adopt the plan and apply it to other courts all over the country,” Torres said.

Prisoners interviewed by The STAR complained of the “very slow” legal system that many of them have already been jailed longer than the maximum penalty imposed on the crime for which they were accused.

Teodoro Villamor, 50, convicted with kidnapping, said he was “forced to admit” the crime after languishing almost eight years in prison “with no clear indication of (which) direction our case is going.” He was sentenced to a minimum of 12 years and a maximum of 14 years in jail.

Emmanuel Cruz, 42, chairman of Barangay 79 in Caloocan City, earlier convicted of slight physical injury charges, also decided not to appeal his 20-day sentence “to avoid more sacrifices.”

He is now serving his sentence at the Metro Manila district jail in Taguig. His case was filed in 2000 but was only resolved last August. – Pete Laude