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■ Legal separation, in case of physical assault by the spouse whichis tantamount to attempt on his/her life (citing Art. 53 of the FamilyCode)Article 32 of the Civil Code lists various freedoms (practically all the civilfreedoms guaranteed by the Constitution in its Bill of Rights) which, ifbreached, can be cause for civil action. In this regard, being ejected fromone’s house is a violation of the right to abode and could be cause for filinga civil suit, citing Article 32.In fact, a wide range of instances wherein people are aggrieved can beremedied through taking civil actions based on Article 32. However, this isnot usually done, the high cost of litigation being one of the deterrents.Below is a summary of the drawbacks of litigation:1. High costsLitigation involves many costs, including filing fees, lawyers’ fees,transportation, reproduction expenses, etc. Civil cases involve veryhigh filing fees. To illustrate, if a petitioner files a claim for damagesworth one million pesos, he or she has to pay a filing fee of aboutP100,000.00. Meanwhile, the cost of engaging private lawyersusually runs in the tens of thousands of pesos.2. Lengthy duration of processIt is very common in the Philippines that court cases could drag onfor years.3. No measures for confidentialityThe criminal and civil procedures, from the investigation phase tothe execution of judgment, do not at any point involve confidentialmeasures (except at the pre-trial stage of mediation, to a certainextent). Even R.A. 8504 is deficient in this regard, with confidentialityas provided therein restricted to medical confidentiality.4. Adversarial natureAnother major deterrent against litigation is the unwillingness topush relationships to the limits of irrepairability, given the fact thatoften, the parties in dispute are not far removed from each other(being members of the same family, community, workplace, etc.).For instance, it would be uncommon to find somebody filing a civilaction against his/her own family, even if he/she was driven awayfrom the house.50 SEEKING REDRESS FOR HIV-RELATED VIOLATIONS OF HUMAN RIGHTS