A POSTER declaring that “justice delayed is justice denied” is posted on many a courtroom wall as a reminder that delaying justice is crippling the Philippine judicial system.
We need judicial reform, not posters. Many family courts are so swamped with child abuse cases that there is an urgent need for a special children’s court. Hopefully, Sen. Risa Hontiveros and her team are working on fulfilling that, as promised.
Fake postponements are an immoral tactic favored by defense lawyers, hoping that the traumatized victim will become tired, lose hope for justice or surrender to pressure from the alleged abuser and his supporters, and settle out of court. As a result, the abuser walks free, and judges who let them go are violating their oaths of office and corrupting themselves.
Several Catholic priests accused of child abuse in the Archdiocese of Cebu had their court cases reduced after plea bargains. They were put on probation and returned to their ministry, as if nothing happened. No justice for their victims at all.
BishopsAccountability.org identified 89 priests in the Philippines as accused of child abuse. Only one, in Cagayan province, is in detention and on trial for multiple sex acts with a young girl, which he reportedly admitted to but claimed it was consensual.
The girl said he had blackmailed her by threatening to post video recordings of their alleged sex acts online. It is well-known that pedophiles just can’t resist sexually abusing children.
Bishops must have the courage to hold pedophile priests to account, expel them from the priesthood, and bring them to the civil court, provided that the judges there have the courage to convict on clear evidence and resist bribes. Only then would children be saved and clerical child abuse reduced.
What Cardinal Pablo Virgilio David, bishop of Kalookan, has recommended is to file charges and let the civil court decide.
Impunity in committing and covering up child abuse is, in my view, the greatest sin of all. Jesus of Nazareth made this clear, telling his disciples: “If anyone causes a child to lose faith in me, let a millstone be hung around his neck and thrown into the deep sea” (Mt 18:6).
Instead of being punished, abusive priests are allowed to return to their ministry, during which they are likely to abuse more children. Every other crime they will commit will be on the conscience of the conniving and tolerant bishops who consequently become an accessory to the crimes.
To win convictions, abused children have to be healed and empowered first. The government has very few, if any, healing homes for such victims. These victims get little help, healing or justice, and suffer the pain and trauma of their abuse for life. (To be continued)/PN
