Burgos, Paul Zandrix A.

8/10/2021
CLEP
Atty. Brian Arias

Reflection Paper

The “Criminal Justice System” of the Philippines is infamously known by

the public as something that is unfair. Unfair in a sense that it mostly favors
the wealthiest of men rather than giving justice towards the plight of the poor.
It is considered unfair since it is allegedly riddled with corruption and
classism. However, most of the public are unaware that the justice system is
actually facing a torrential amount of problems, which includes insufficiency
of necessary funds and a highly congested population inside our jails and
other penal institutions.

The Justice or Penal System of the Philippines is being supported by five

pillars, namely: law enforcement; prosecution; courts; corrections; and the
community. These pillars play an important role towards the administration
of justice. These pillars are the gears that are highly necessary in order for the
justice system to function properly.

In order for the system to properly perform its functions, the concurring
effort of the pillars, police, prosecutors, judiciary, and correctional services are
ultimately necessary.

In addressing the problem on congestion of our jails, what I can

contribute as a student of the law with aspirations of hoping to become a
fully-pledged lawyer in the immediate future, I would certainly advise and
promote the volunteering efforts done by the HLAF organization. I would
also promote our system of ADR or Alternative Dispute Resolution,
whenever it is necessary so that cases which can be settled through ADR
would not join the ranks of clogged cases in our judicial courts. The option of
choosing ADR, rather than pursuing an action before the courts, in a long-
term point of view, would help in decongesting the jails and penal institutions
in the Philippines.