Bulacan uses Filipino in court trials

By Carmela Reyes
Central Luzon Desk
First Posted 04:55:00 08/20/2009
Filed Under: Language, Litigation & Regulations, Judiciary (system of justice)

CITY OF MALOLOS?In this part of the country, everybody speaks Filipino in the courtroom. And it?s not because the country is observing Buwan
ng Wikang Pambansa (National Language Month) or Linggo ng Wika (Language Week).
For 10 months now, selected courts in Bulacan have been using Filipino during trials and proceedings, not only to reach out to the masses but also
to promote the national language, said Regional Trial Court Judge Ma. Resurreccion Ramos-Buhat.
?We celebrate Buwan ng Wikang Pambansa and we just want many Filipinos to know that Bulacan courts are using Filipino to preserve the national
language,? Buhat said.
?Using Filipino captures the attention of the litigants. They manage to easily understand everything. It also lessens the time spent on trials because
there are no more translations. There is more silence in my court because everybody understands what is going on and everybody listens,? she
added.
Buhat admitted though that it wasn?t convenient to use Filipino because most lawyers were not used to it.
No subjects on Filipino legal terms
Besides, she added, law schools do not offer subjects that discuss legal terms in Filipino.
Aside from Buhat, Executive Judge Herminia Pasamba of Branch 81 and Judge Manuel Syangco of Branch 6 have been using Filipino in their
hearings since October last year.
Chief Justice Reynato Puno ordered the use of Filipino in selected courts based on a proposal of Jose de la Rama, chair of the Supreme Court
committee on linguistic commissions.
De la Rama, a retired Court of Appeals associate justice, said the use of Filipino in court proceedings would expedite the handling of cases because
translators would no longer be needed.
?Using our national language will also allow the litigants to fully understand what is happening in the court. Transparency inside the court can be
achieved more using our national language,? he said.
De la Pea said lawyers, prosecutors and judges may speak in Filipino when they question and cross-examine witnesses.
Longer words in Filipino
But lawyer Jeremiah Crisostomo of the Public Attorney?s Office here said that whether the use of Filipino could speed up court proceedings had yet
to be ascertained.
Stenographers can take down notes also in Filipino, Buhat said.
However, some of them have complained of difficulty since Filipino words and sentences are longer than those in English, she said.
Lourdes Capulong, a stenographer, said she was often fascinated by Filipino words spoken by witnesses and their lawyers.
A lot more fun
?This makes me even more attentive. The courtroom is a lot more fun now. Hearings also appear to be more formal because they are addressing
everyone in the court in Filipino,? she said.
Anna Maria Angela Garcia, an assistant prosecutor at the provincial prosecutor?s office, said one difficulty she had encountered was her inability to
translate some legal terms in Filipino.
But she said the legal terms in English or Latin could be retained if there were no Filipino words for them.

Better understanding
Retired Justice Justo Torres Jr., Philippine Judicial Academy vice chancellor, said lawyers and judges should not necessarily translate all English
words into Filipino because what was important was that all parties understand the proceedings better.
Judge Cesar Peralejo, a member of the Judicial and Bar Council, said law schools should include at least 24 units of Filipino subjects to acquaint
aspiring lawyers.
National Artist Virgilio Almario, former dean of the College of Arts and Letters at the University of the Philippines, said the use of Filipino in court
proceedings signified ?full democracy in our courts.?

Essence Of Justice For The Marginalized

By J. Myrna Dimaranan Vidal

Webster's dictionary defines justice as the use of authority to maintain what is just. It is likewise referred to as the assignment of merited
rewards or punishments. However, what is rather stark is Cicero's description of justice, viz: the disposition of the human mind to render
everyone his due. Verily, this includes political justice, social and economic justice, which should be viewed in the light of the fact that more
than half of the Philippine population today is in an unimaginable sad economic state. Undeniably, the Philippines houses people who are
suffering from hunger or deprivation in matters of nutrition and public health, exploitation in all forms and other human rights violations; and
who, when aggrieved and violated, are unable to seek redress before the bar of justice, remains meek and silenced by poverty, despite the
Constitutional and statutory declarations on rights to life, property and personal liberty. Thus, it is in this context that the ability of a person to
approach the proper authority and successfully present his grievance on rights violated is put to issue.
During the Supreme Court sponsored Forum On Increasing Access to Justice, Chief Justice REYNATO S. PUNO zeroed in on the dilemma of
the seemingly unrealistic maxim of equity, which promises solution to every wrong done, and which, notably, is never fully enjoyed by the
poor and has remained to be a mere promise. In the strong words of Chief Justice PUNO: These are times that try the souls of men. But
while we cannot win the fight for the poor overnight, we should prevail overtime. There is only one way to lose this fight when we lose our
sense of revolt on the revolting lives of the poor. Yes, we can win this fight provided we beat the enemy the enemy of exhaustion.
Fortunately, the Judiciary has been actively working on its role in making the idea of justice to be realistic for the poor. Since the time of then
Chief Justice HILARIO G. DAVIDE, the Supreme Court, through its Action Program for Judicial Reform (APJR), has been vigorously
involved in the development of projects which aimed at reforming the country's justice system. It has continued to undertake its self-imposed
duty of delivering justice in its truest sense, especially to the underprivileged sector of our society.
During his stint, former Chief Justice ARTEMIO V. PANGANIBAN vowed on giving the marginalized sector a leg up by, among others, leading
the mobile courts to pull over within Rizal province, Tondo, Manila and other parts of the National Capital Region. These mobile courts, which
are under the Justice on Wheels (JOW) Project of the Supreme Court, was launched in 2004, and has been intensified under the watch of
Chief Justice REYNATO S. PUNO by taking it to Cebu, province of Sarangani and other parts of Mindanao. This program is yielding positive
results towards the attainment of the Judiciary's thrust of increasing access to justice specifically for the poor litigants languishing in jail for
years due to lack of effective legal representation, and complex and incomprehensible legal procedure.
Another essential factor in the underprivileged's inability to approach the courts of law and other quasi-judicial agencies is their means or
resources. Necessarily, for a person to assert his right in court, he must be represented by counsel and must likewise shoulder the litigation
expenses like docket fees. For this purpose, the Supreme Court, through its rule-making power under the Constitution, has promulgated rules
to remedy this predicament. One of which is the rule on indigent party in Section 21, Rule 3 and Section 18, Rule 141 of the Revised Rules
of Court which, inter alia, exempt an indigent litigant from paying the docket and other legal fees. Likewise, Section 2, Rule 124, in relation to
Section 31, Rule 138, of the Rules, provides mechanisms on the appointment of counsel de oficio for a destitute party in criminal and other
cases. In this line, Presidential Decree No. 1 created and organized the Citizen's Legal Assistance Office (CLAO), later re-organized as the
Public Attorney's Office (PAO), which provides free legal services to qualified pauper litigants.
Concededly, apart from being unable to seek redress from the courts, most of the marginalized are not aware of the rights guaranteed to
them and the available legal remedies. And most of those who need the help of the laws are the ones who do not understand the English
language. Correspondingly, one could not expect those who can not comprehend the laws to be aware of their rights. This is the rationale why
the Supreme Court is now considering the use of Filipino in court proceedings. In fact, the use of Tagalog as the language in court was pilottested in Bulacan and had shown very positive results, thereby the program will most likely be implemented in Tagalog-speaking provinces
like Cavite, Batangas, Nueva Ecija, among others.
Truly, the Judiciary remains to be the hope of the people, especially those belonging to the marginalized sector. And it is heartening to note
that it has always been committed to the goal of social justice as enshrined in the Constitution. Indeed, the Judiciary, despite the unfavorable
and unpleasant publicity it recently got from the media, is and will be the last bulwark of justice, the underprivileged members of our

society included. In fact, the Judiciary's war against poverty has been making waves across the country, making a great difference in every
hungry soul.