More Evidence the Philippine Justice System is Broken

If there is a truism to be said about the Philippine justice system it is that it is broken. This does not mean the Philippines lacks laws or law enforcement. It does not mean that criminals are not rightly prosecuted. What it does mean is taken comprehensively the Philippine justice system is filled with so many pitfalls which need patching and which make it unreliable. 

Take the following case.

https://mb.com.ph/2025/08/26/instead-of-only-30-days-woman-stayed-in-jail-for-over-23-years

A woman, who should have been imprisoned for only 30 days for slight physical injuries, stayed in jail for 23 years at the Correctional Institution for Women (CIW) in Mandaluyong City.

More than 40 years old now, the woman – whose name was not disclosed – was convicted of murder almost 25 years ago by the trial court.

Murder is punishable with reclusion perpetua or a prison term ranging from 20 to 40 years.

On appeal to the Supreme Court (SC) the conviction was reversed and was meted out a jail term of 30 days for slight physical injuries, recalled Department of Justice Undersecretary Margarita Gutierrez.

The SC decision could not be accessed since the name of the woman and the case number of the appeal were not disclosed.

Undersecretary Gutierrez said the woman was released on Christmas Day in 2024 after the Quezon City Regional Trial Court (RTC) issued a writ of habeas corpus sought by the lawyers of the DOJ Action Center (DOJAC).

Gutierrez, who heads the DOJAC, said the RTC acted on the basis of the SC’s decision that was issued in January 2024.

Had not the DOJAC intervened and acted on the plea for help by the woman, she would still be at the CIW, Gutierrez said.

Based on her recollection of the case, Gutierrez said the woman and her two male co-accused were convicted of murder for the killing of her alleged rapist.

Gutierrez said she learned that the woman had a drinking spree with some male companions when one of them tried to sexually abuse her.

Fortunately, the woman said her two male companions managed to stop the rapist whom they beat up and died from multiple stab wounds.

When the case reached the Supreme Court, Gutierrez said the High Court found that the woman merely beat up her rapist and it was one of her companions who stabbed him to death.

Despite the SC ruling, the woman could not be released from jail because of the pending motion to reconsider the High Court’s decision, Gutierrez said.

The DOJAC decided to seek the issuance of a habeas corpus before the RTC considering that the SC had reversed her murder conviction and had over served her jail term for almost 23 years instead of only 30 days, she added.

25 years ago a lady was convicted of murder and sentenced to a prison term between 20 and 40 years. On appeal the Supreme Court reversed her conviction and reduced her sentenced to 30 days on a significantly lesser charge. Rather than release her immediately she was kept in prison due to a "pending motion to reconsider the High Court’s decision."

There are four things to consider here. 

1. How is it the SC found different facts from the lower courts? This discrepancy is significant and shows the incompetence of the judge which convicted this lady. 

2. Why would the SC decision not be immediately executable? Why did this lady need to sit in prison while the case as being reconsidered? The article does not say.

3. Why was the motion for reconsideration never brought forward and the woman allowed to rot in prison? More than likely because she is poor with no sufficient legal representation. If the DOJAC had not taken up her case she would still be in prison. There is nothing to indicate how they became aware of her plight.

4. How many more people share her condition? How many more Filipinos are unjustly imprisoned due to incompetent lower court judges?

When someone is rightly convicted and people cheer and say, "Look the Philippine justice system works," they must be corrected and pointed to cases like this. In the grand scheme of things the injustice against this lady is not anomaly. It happens every day.