Hukuman ng Mamamayan

What if people are the judges?

POWER BEGINS FROM THE PEOPLE, IS IT BUT RIGHT TO LET THE PEOPLE EXERCISE THE POWER TO JUDGE?

For starters, let us be objective in the sense that not one of us would accept readily my lifetime assertion that JURY SYSTEM IS THE ONLY WAY TO REMOVE ABUSE by the dirty-minded politicians, by the dirty judges and fiscals and ombudsmen, that this is the only solution for our miseries caused on us by the greedy politicians, warlords, drug lords, and gambling lords.

FIRST, please understand that when we begin to build a state, we need people, the territory occupied by the people, the sovereignty or the capacity of the people to make a collective will for their own, and the government willed by the people.

MY POINT HERE is, EVERY POWER IN GOVERNMENT STARTS WITH THE PEOPLE.  The source of all powers is the collective group called the people. That is why the Constitution declares: "SOVEREIGNTY RESIDES IN THE PEOPLE."

These powers are: (a) the power to make laws; (b) the power to implement laws; and (c) the power to judge and interpret the laws.

If we exercise our power to make laws by means of electing our congressmen and senators, we also exercise our power to implement laws by means of electing our president and vice-president to exercise for us this power if the president is not around.

But you wonder that we the people do not exercise our power to judge, never mind the power to interpret the laws for these are truly best left in the hands of the experts.

So that you can see here that the FIRST JUSTIFICATION for the Jury System is that THIS IS THE ONLY SYSTEM that allows the exercise of the power to judge in the exclusive hands of the people, through their representatives chosen from among them, and it is but fitting and proper because this power to judge starts from the people.

So that how nice it would be if we are the one deciding for our own and not others?

My second justification is that the JURY SYSTEM IS THE ONLY JUSTICE SYSTEM that secures the people against abuses by government men. 

Even if we have greedy and abusive president, he cannot will his will on the people if the people themselves control the justice system.  Oppressive officials cannot just dictate that those who dissent to their wants and needs should be charged on false or trumped-up cases; neither they can dictate the investigative jury acting as ombudsman if only another Joc-Joc Bolante comes around, nor dictate the jury investigating on election offenses such as vote buying and dagdag-bawas committed by Garcillano.

We cannot always be assured that we will have good presidents like Magsaysay. Sometimes greed has its own way of rearing ugly head.

To ensure against despotic president, which is always a possibility, it is much better that the people is protected.

So that I can say without fear:

"I WOULD RATHER SEE A JUSTICE SYSTEM CONTROLLED BY THE PEOPLE AND PRONE TO ABUSE BY THE PEOPLE THAN A JUSTICE SYSTEM CONTROLLED BY JUDGES WHO CAN BE ABUSED NOT BY THE PEOPLE BUT BY THE POWERFUL LORDS."

Let us discuss this first before I go further.

Thank you very much, my dears.

Patriotically,

Berteni "Toto" Cataluña Causing