EDITORIAL - A decade of waiting

Jacky Rowena Tiu counted the days to the end of the trial of several men indicted for her abduction in September 2001. It was a long wait for justice. Tiu counted nine years, eight months and 20 days since she was kidnapped in La Union before the Manila Regional Trial Court finally handed down its verdict earlier this week: life terms with no parole for six of the Chinese kidnappers, and up to eight years for an accessory. An eighth man is at large.

The court also ordered the convicts to pay Tiu exemplary damages of P100,000 plus the rate of interest from the commission of the crime. 

Tiu thanked Manila RTC Judge Antonio Rosales for the verdict, calling him “heaven sent.” Tiu has reason to be glad that the trial is over, with her tormentors arrested and behind bars. Other victims of kidnapping and other heinous offenses don’t see any of the perpetrators apprehended. Many victims, fearing a repeat of the kidnapping or retaliation for seeking police help, simply move to another country.

Still, a decade is a long wait for justice, especially when the perpetrators have been arrested and positively identified by the victim. That long wait, even for victims of sensational crimes, deters many people from pursuing court cases or reporting crimes to authorities. Tiu’s case isn’t over yet; the convicts are entitled to an appeal, and this could still reach the Supreme Court, adding a few more years to the wait for a final ruling.

Will the wheels of justice ever turn faster in this country? The wheels move at a fast clip elsewhere; what makes this impossible in the Philippines? The slow pace not only denies justice to many crime victims, but also deters investors who see in the snail’s pace another manifestation of the weakness of the rule of law in this country. Those in charge of the judicial system must confront this problem with the urgency that the situation has long called for.