of the Philippines the criminal justice system is - Article 2

A. Factual backdrop
In the wake of a disturbing wave of unexplained killings of civilian activists
and media personnel, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo issued
Administrative Order No. 157 entitled “Creating an Independent Commission
to Address Media and Activist Killings.” The Commission was given the task
to prioritize and focus investigation of media and activist killings and thereafter
to submit recommendations to the President on policies and actions, including
prosecution and legislative proposals, if any, aimed at eradicating the root
causes of the extrajudicial killings and breaking such cycle of violence.
Necessarily, the Commission’s first and foremost task was to determine the
root cause of the said killings, and if possible, the persons or interest group
responsible therefor.
The Commission was not created to solve the killings, or any of them, by
pinpointing the actual gunmen involved. Neither will the Commission
prosecute who it believes are the persons behind such killings. Those tasks,
which would take years and an army of investigators and prosecutors to finish,
would be best left to the regularly constituted law enforcement authorities
and the Department of Justice.
B. Procedure
...
The Commission first called the Philippine National Police, which sent Gen.
Avelino Razon, Deputy Director of the PNP, together with his retinue. Gen.
Razon is likewise the head of Task Force Usig, which was created to investigate,
solve, and otherwise handle the same extrajudicial killings, and it was in his
capacity as such head that he appeared before the Commission. The
Commission was likewise informed that Task Force Usig was instructed by
the President herself to cooperate fully with the Commission. Gen. Razon
presented a comprehensive report on the activities of Task Force Usig and
their views and opinions on the suspects behind the killings.
Thereafter, the Commission called on the Armed Forces of the Philippines,
which was represented by the Chief of Staff Gen. Hermogenes Esperon, who
gave a brief report or statement on the killings, and answered various questions
propounded by the Commission. The next witness was Retired Gen. Jovito S.
Palparan, Jr., who was confronted for his image and reputation as the prime
suspect behind the extrajudicial killings.
The Commission then extended an invitation to the Commission on Human
Rights, which was represented by Chairperson Purificacion Quisumbing.
Thereafter, the Commission held hearings in Bacolod, Negros Occidental, and
in Davao City on the alleged killings of peasants and non-governmental
organization workers suspected to be perpetrated by hired goons of
landowners. The Commission noted that these killings are within its mandate
to look into, considering that the victims were farmers or peasant activists.
I. UNDISPUTED FACTS
From the proceedings, it became plain that certain matters and facts were wellnigh
undisputed. Although not necessarily proven in such a manner that would
be binding in a court of law, these facts are nevertheless accepted as such by all
concerned and, therefore, may be presumed to be true.
The first undisputed fact is that there indeed have been extralegal killings, and
that the victims were almost entirely members of activist groups or were
media personnel. The numbers of victims and the theories behind their deaths
vary between the versions of the PNP and the military, on one hand, and
Karapatan and Amnesty International, on the other. However, it is undisputed
that there were killings.
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article 2 • February 2007 Vol. 6, No. 1