State of justice in the country

A judge is supposed to dispense justice. When a judge cannot get justice even for himself, it is a very bad indication of the state of justice. We mention this because last June 10, the Executive Judge of Tanauan, Batangas Voltaire Y. Rosales was brutally murdered right in Tanauan City. What is significant is that Judge Rosales is not the only judge that has been murdered.

In the past five years, no less than six judges have been murdered. In Nov. 1, 1999, Judge Celso Lorenzo Sr. of Borongan, Eastern Samar was shot to death. Judge Hassan Ibnobahi of the Regional Trial Court of San Jose, Occidental Mindoro was killed on Feb. 5, 2001. Six months later, Judge Eugenio Valles of the Regional Trial Court of Nabuntalan, Compostela Valley suffered the same fate, Judge Gaby Uson of the Regional Trial Court of Tayug, Pangasinan was shot to death on Sept. 27, 2002. And Executive Judge Paterno Tiamson of the Regional Trial Court of Binangonan, Rizal was stabbed till he died on Feb. 21, 2004. It is obvious that being a judge is a high-risk position. They have to pass judgment on people who are being tried for the most heious crimes and they end up as added victims of heinous crimes.

What concerns us most is whether those who committed murder against the six mentioned judges have been apprehended, tried and convicted. In the case of Judge Rosales, the suspected mastermind has already been arrested and jailed. But the person who actually killed Judge Rosales has yet to be identified.

Judges do not make the law. They just apply it to particular cases. What would happen to the country where policemen who arrest lawbreakers and judges who convict the guilty are killed? It will be a triumph of evil. The worse development is if these murderers are allowed to get away with their heinous crimes. It is bad enough to break the law, but the ultimate crime is to murder those who are implementing the law.

To our way of thinking, judges who are murdered for doing their jobs conscientiously should be classified as martyrs. There should be a special place to honor them in the Department of Justice Building. They died for the cause of justice. Soldiers are supposed to be ready to die in a battlefield, if necessary. Judges are not supposed to risk their lives in complying with their duties. But as we have seen, they often do. They have faith in the law. But as Miguel de Unamuno said, "Faith does not create martyrs; it is martyrs who create faith."