Certainty

The news was buried by the blaring headlines of the day. But it carries welcome consequences for our justice system.

Last week, the Supreme Court handed down a decision upholding the Department of Justice Circular No. 20. This circular raises the evidentiary standard in preliminary investigations from mere probable cause to prima facie evidence with reasonable certainty of conviction.

The circular means more work for the prosecutorial service and less trash for the courts to bother clearing. Our justice system suffered too long and wasted too much resources on weak cases thrown up to the courts on a prayer. The old system caused needless pain on those falsely accused as well as victims who were made to believe justice was within reach.

The new evidentiary standard means the prosecutorial service needs to shape up and weigh the evidence much more thoroughly. Under the new standard, the evidence must do more than hint of a crime. The preliminary evidence must establish a credible and convincing basis to believe the accused could reasonably be convicted at trial.

This new standard is closer to international practice. The traditional “probable cause” threshold caused our justice system to be clogged and too many cases to fail under more rigorous court procedures.

The Court’s ruling confirms the Department of Justice’s authority to regulate the conduct of preliminary investigations and ensures prosecutors exercise diligence and discretion in evaluating the sufficiency of evidence. This will certainly reduce cases filed merely to harass. It will reinforce public confidence that the justice system is more than merely procedural. It is principled.

Legal observers anticipate the Court decision will have dramatic implications for our justice system. It expects prosecutors to analyze evidence rigorously, weigh corroboration and assess whether all elements of a crime are likely to be proven in court.

The ruling, by the way, also underscores that administrative caution cannot justify inaction when the case meets evidentiary threshold. The Supreme Court confirms that the law demands both thoroughness and timeliness from those responsible for bringing criminal cases forward.

This ruling has immediate relevance to a long-stalled case that has drawn national attention: the murder on July 23, 2017 of Enrique Manas Sr. in Samar. A criminal complaint was filed against several suspects shortly after the murder. Nearly nine years later, the case has yet to reach court.

Experienced litigators insist that when a life has been taken, the proper venue for determining guilt is the trial court. In murder cases, such as the Manas case, a full trial allows evidence to be tested, witnesses examined and the facts weighed by a judge – rather than leaving the matter indefinitely at preliminary investigation.

On Jan. 16, 2025, then Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla issued a resolution on the Manas case, ordering that the information against the alleged killers be filed in court within 10 days. That resolution was presumably on the basis of sufficient evidence to support the likelihood of conviction.

More than a year later, however, the case has not moved forward.

Resilient systems

We are at a time of serious difficulty. Our consumers have just been dealt an oil price shock that will continue to reverberate across the economy, testing the resilience of the systems that underpin our domestic economy.

The price shock will soon reflect in a financial shock, as our market tries to cope with the volatility. Fortunately, we have a rather well developed digital finance system that seems capable of withstanding the test of difficult economic times.

BSP data show that digital payments accounted for 72.2 percent of payments made by individuals in 2025. This reflects how profoundly digital transactions have become embedded in our daily economic lives.

More than being merely a technological trend, the digitalization of transactions is a structural transformation of the way economic activity moves across the country. The Philippines has evolved one of Southeast Asia’s most encompassing digital payments ecosystems.

Millions of Filipinos now use mobile platforms to send money, pay bills, receive remittances and support small businesses. Services such as GCash, Maya and payment systems integrated into regional platforms helped accelerate the transformation. Digital finance is now an indispensable infrastructure supporting our economy.

The progress achieved by our digital payments system is due, to a major extent, to the regulatory leadership provided by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas. Over the past few years, the BSP encouraged digital innovation while maintaining the highest safeguards for the financial system.

Initiatives such as QR Ph introduced interoperable digital payments, allowing consumers to pay merchants using a standard QR code across banks and e-wallets. This shared framework expanded digital payment acceptance among micro, small and medium enterprises nationwide.

Small retailers are among the biggest beneficiaries. A survey by Packworks found that e-wallet usage among sari-sari stores increased by 75 percent last year, driven by growing consumer demand for cashless transactions. The ability of small merchants to accept payments from multiple wallets and banking apps enables wider participation in the digital economy.

Remittances, threatened by trouble in the Middle East, is an important pillar of our economy. During a period of uncertainty, the ability to send money reliably and quickly becomes even more critical. GCash recently waived certain remittance-related fees to help families dependent on our workers abroad.

Global research uncovers the connection between the reach of digital payments systems and the resilience of economies.