OUR country has a queer system of justice dispensation oftentimes, civil cases involving inheritance and property take long years to resolve while criminal cases are reportedly terminated swiftly when they involve influential and moneyed litigants. The poor ones, most of the time, get the shorter end of the justice yardstick and left defenseless.
As written by Philippine Star columnist Ana Marie Pamintuan, protracted litigation allows key witnesses to go missing or be paid to retract their statements or material evidence to disappear.
A classic example of this statement is the recently dismissed one billion peso case against the Marcoses (Imelda and Ferdinand) and the Tantoco spouses. The Sandigan reportedly dismissed the case allegedly for lack of evidence. It found no merit on the prosecutor's submission of thick volumes of testimonial evidence, including sworn statements of witnesses.
Ms. Pamintuan continued as such: Sometimes the problem is the other way around: Judges find excuses, no matter how flimsy, to speedily dismiss charges against certain well-connected individuals.
Well, there lies the imbalance.
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Much talk and efforts have been put on the preservation of the environment, our environment.
Beginning in the early 70s, numerous measures were already adopted to improve the quality of the environment.
Several technological alterations have been introduced, as well as laws passed such as the Clean Air Act. Other more advanced nations have established monitoring and reporting systems that record the annual emissions of pollutants and changes in environmental quality. This way, we can have a virtual picture of what has happened in the environment since remedial measures were first introduced. The question now is: Has the quality of the environment really improved or has it gotten worse?
We were bothered by the large fires in the Amazon forest in Brazil and the numerous instances of fires in Southern California. These conflagrations surely contributed to the degradation of the environment. How then could we avert further destruction of our environmental elements?
In his book Making Peace with the Planet, author Barry Commoner alerted us to the hideous costs of our technological development. He reviewed the vast efforts made in the public and private spheres to address and control the damage done and despite huge amounts spent to save the environment, we still find ourselves in a more perilous moment. Ahh!
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Meanwhile, the Clark Development Corporation under the able leadership of its president Noel F. Manankil has embarked on the beautification of the state-run firm. Improving its revenues steadily through the years, Manankil and his team of dedicated officials and employees looked to improving the surroundings of the successful firm, including the much-enhanced road network particularly near the Mabalacat gate.
There are more projects to beautify Clark Development Corporation, this according to his namesake, Noel Tulabut, the head of the Communications Division.