PLP Fun Run in CDO

LAST July 16, Sun.Star announced that on July 29, the 1st PLP Open Fun Run will be held in Kiosko Kagawasan, Divisoria around 11:30 a.m.

I was delighted when I read this news report, moreover when the report said there that last March Regional State Prosecutor Jaime Umpa was elected president of PLP in a landslide victory over Prosecutor Danny Yang in Manila.

I really didn’t know this yet. If I remember well some years ago, Judge Umpa made a court decision in favor of the banana plantation workers of Davao who were protesting in front of his office against the aerial spraying of the banana company. I noticed that time that Judge Umpa is a no-nonsense prosecutor and I openly praised him for that in my column in Sun.Star.

I was delighted also to read in the same news report that Justice Secretary Leila De Lima is expected to join also in the event.

The fun run, Umpa emphasized, is the highlight of PLP’s three-day gathering participated in by prosecutors from Caraga Region and Northern Mindanao Region with the Justice Secretary.

How I wish I could have participated also in this fun run. I will be out of Cagayan de Oro from July 26 to August 11, because I have to attend some meetings of the Carmelites in Manila.

Leila De Lima is another no-nonsense Justice Secretary. I really hope that De Lima will make it to be the new Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. We badly need people like Umpa and De Lima in our judiciary to initiate the so much needed overhauling of our judicial system. We have to get rid of all those corrupt judges and defense lawyers in our courts.

A case like that of the Ampatuans is dragging on for years because of a defense lawyer who tries all his best to prevent the truth to come out into the open, and a judge who is afraid of castigating him for that and allowing this charade to go on. Clearly, it is money that plays an important role here and this eases the conscience of these people.

I never can understand why someone can agree in conscience to become a defense lawyer for a criminal, unless it is to get the best deal for his client, but not to get him off the hook or prove that he is innocent. President Aquino’s hands are tied down because he is facing this kind of justice system. People blame him for all those unresolved cases of extrajudicial killings, for the delay in releasing all those political prisoners, and, not to forget, for all those innocent victims who are languishing in jail for being convicted for crimes they have not committed.

People could file an impeachment case against these corrupt judges and lawyers but there must be a shorter way in dealing with this problem.

I hope that the PLP’s three-day gathering with the Justice Secretary in Cagayan de Oro will take the first step towards the long-awaited overhauling of the judiciary.

(For your comments, email nolvanvugt@gmail.com)