A SIMPLE SOLUTION FOR PHILIPPINE PROGRESS

We all seem to have been hoodwinked into thinking that the "American Way" is the best system of government such that we have practically adopted it in toto, particularly, the justice system (except for jury trials). It turns out that many of our problems in this regard may actually stem from this colonial mentality.

I've been looking deeper into the criminal procedures of the more law-abiding countries and it came as a shock to find out that many of them do not even have a right to bail!

Apparently in Japan, Germany and Switzerland, the right to bail does not even exist! It is all up to the courts to decide within 48 hours to 20 days whether you can be freed or not. This actually seems a better deterrent to crime and corruption as well as fairer because bail makes breaking the law so much easier for those with money and a burden to those without. Better to simply determine immediately whether to detain or not.

In South Korea, they have bail BUT it is rarely given. It is more of a privilege than a right and you are liable to stay in jail for at least 10-20 days in any case. Thus. even former Prime Ministers and the ultra-rich such as the owner of Samsung and others have spent time in detention.

In Malaysia, Mahathir was able to recently sweep away and arrest all the corrupt politicians because it has an Internal Security Act (an executive promulgation, no less rather than a law) which was issued when there was a lot of trouble decades ago but has never been repealed.

To be fair, human rights organizations have been up in arms over this state of affairs but do any of these countries care? They do not look like they will change their laws anytime soon on their account so why should they prevent us from doing what we so obviously need to do?

For people who wonder what would happen if RevGov is declared, my humble proposal is to simply dissolve Congress and to promulgate a pre-trial or preventive/investigative detention law similar to those which any other progressive, democratic and most importantly, LAW-ABIDING countries have. Just these two things alone would go a long way towards solving the current impasse and sorry state of affairs we are in. Everything else could simply continue as normal until a Federal-Parliamentary form of government is worked out.

It is quite plain to see that unless these two things are done, we will never be able to sort out the root causes of our problems.

Is Congress even interested in any discussing election reform laws despite the massive anomalies that have come to light? Certainly not, considering that those anomalies were what got them and kept them in office!

Is Congress willing to seriously consider even amending so many warped provisions of the Constitution, much less moving to Federalism? Certainly not, for the same reasons.

Is Congress likely to pass more stringent laws against criminals and the corrupt such as a death penalty even if only for those trafficking in drugs from the NBP or even an amendment to the anti-wire-tapping law that would allow even just these incarcerated people to be properly monitored? It sure doesn't seem like it. Why? For probably the same reasons, it would seem.

Apparently, it is impossible to expect Congress to fix anything which they benefit from. Rather, just like the hue and cry about Sereno, they will do somersaults and headstands to justify anything that favors them and will NEVER give way to anything that may affect their positions.

Certainly, a pre-trial or preventive/investigative detention law would not have a ghost of a chance of even being discussed despite it being a most important feature of the most progressive countries which are just as democratic but certainly more orderly than the US.

Perhaps more importantly, the question begs, if even these two simple things are not done, will we ever have a chance to become the modern, progressive and stable country that we have been prevented from becoming by the very people on whom we have depended on to do it?

If they will not protect anyone but themselves, why must we protect them? And most important of all, unless we do what has to be done, WHO WILL PROTECT US AGAINST THEM?

http://www.irks.at/detour/DE%201st%20National%20report%20031116.pdf
https://www.npa.go.jp/english/ryuchi/Detention_house-Eng_080416.pdf
https://www.admin.ch/opc/en/classified-compilation/20052319/index.html
https://www.thekoreanlawblog.com/2015/02/koreas-criminal-defense-lawyer-procedure-act-detention.html
https://www.hrw.org/report/2006/08/23/convicted-trial/indefinite-detention-under-malaysias-emergency-ordinance