Legal Profession

1. Court System Delay

This is a recognition that no justice system is error-free. In the Philippines, despite the Constitutional mandate,
individual still experience delays in the hearing and disposition of their cases which is evident in criminal cases. In
criminal cases, every moment a case is postponed whether for a legitimate reason or not means that the accused will be
detained a moment more in prison. Given that the accused may bail, however, factors like poverty has prevented the
accused to exercise such right. While the rich can enjoy temporary liberty, poverty stricken individuals feel the wrath
of delay on a daily basis.
In the case of People of the Philippines V. Cabarles, the court explained that no matter how much the court wants to
punish crimes, the protection provided by the bill of rights is bestowed upon all individuals.
As future lawyers, the approach to solve the problem of delay is multi-faceted. The judiciary cant do it alone, certainly.
Everyone in the justice system has to do their part. For what is the use of all the rules, if at the end, no one is following
them.
2. Padrino System
As a democratic republic, the Philippines is supposed to have a government of the people, by the people, and for the
people. However, in reality, one can take a look at the Legislative Branch of the government, and come to a conclusion
that it is all on the contrary.

In September 2008, Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago passed Senate Bill No. 2616, or the "Anti-Political
Recommendation Act," however this as usual has been shelved for the time being and is currently pending at the
Committee level.

When the pork barrel scam broke out, Senator Jinggoy Estrada claimed that Pres.Benigno Aquino III used
the Disbursement Acceleration Program to influence the 188 Congressional Representatives and 20 Senators to approve
the impeachment complaint against Renato Corona. On July 2, 2014 the Supreme Court decision on DAP was ruled as
unconstitutional.

A good example would be presenting position papers or resolutions for the introduction of pertinent bills in congress.

3. Corrupt judicial system

Bribery happens because of lack of adequate resources, heavy workloads and pressures to decide cases within short
timeframes. As future lawyers, we should raise awareness regarding the level of corruption in the judiciary, the proof
that an anti-corruption strategy can and does work. I have to argue that judiciary corruption is not likely ever to be fully
eliminated, but the objective is to minimize it, so that strengthen our judicial integrity.