EDITORIAL - Still no justice

Remember Venson Evangelista? Three years ago on Jan. 14, the charred remains of the car dealer were found in Nueva Ecija. Police said he was a victim of a carjacking ring headed by the brothers Raymond and Roger Dominguez, who were subsequently arrested and charged with kidnapping with homicide.

Three years later, the case is crawling along at the Quezon City Regional Trial Court, with the judge promising to resolve the case by 2015. The star witness, Alfred Mendiola, was found dead in Cavite in May 2012. Mendiola had turned state witness, testifying that he had asked to test-drive a vehicle being sold by Evangelista before the car dealer was kidnapped. Mendiola also pointed to three other men who are facing trial along with the Dominguez brothers.

The brothers are also on trial for the kidnapping and murder of Emerson Lozano, son of lawyer Oliver Lozano. The charges in this related case were also based on the testimony of Mendiola. The defendant accused of burning Lozano’s body, Napoleon Salamat, was killed in an alleged firefight with police in Bulacan in 2012.

For the Philippine criminal justice system, three years of trial and a promise of a decision by 2015 can be considered quick. But a decision by the lower courts can still be appealed to higher courts, all the way to the Supreme Court. By the time a final ruling is handed down, the wait for justice would have lasted a decade. Why should this be the standard in the Philippine judicial system? It shouldn’t be impossible to speed up the wheels of justice.