The Justice System

Motivation
1. Why is it important for government officials to declare their SALN or Statement of
Assets, Liabilities, and Networth? What does it have to do with good governance?

2. Do you think that the process of impeachment is important for a nation, or is it just a
distraction from what is more important?

What are your insights about the Philippine Justice System? Does it indeed deliver
justice in a timely manner?

Background Knowledge
In December 2011, former Chief Justice Renato Corona was impeached by the
Philippine Senate, with 16 senators voting to impeach him and three senators voting for
acquittal. He was impeached because he did not declare P183 million in his SALN, a
public document required for all government officials. The declaration of assets and
liabilities in the SALN ensures the public officials do not accept bribes or not prone to
corruption; the former Chief Justice’s non-declaration of assets close to 200 million
pesos hinted suspicion regarding the source of these funds and that these may be
considered ill-gotten wealth.

In a prior case, a court interpreter, Delsa Flores was fired after she had failed to
declare a market stall in her SALN. The senators who impeached Corona stated that the
law should apply to all. One can interpret the event as a victory over corruption, but in
the Philippines, this is not as simple as it looks. Others interpret the event as a political
move by the Aquino Administration to take away the obstruction blocking them from
prosecuting President Gloria Arroyo. Be that as it may, it was a political exercise that
showed that the checks and balances in the Philippine government are alive and well, and
that no one is above the law.

JUSTICE
By Ralph Semino Galan

These are the accoutrements of her office:

the blindfold symbolizing impartiality;
a golden pair of scales measuring the validity
of evidence given, both pro and con;
the double-edged sword that pierces through
the thick fabric of lies; Thot’s feather
of truth which ultimately determines whether
the defendant’s life is worth saving.
In J. Elizalde Navarro’s oil painting titled
Is this Philippine Justice? The figure
of the Roman goddess Justitia slowly fades
into thin air, swallowed by pigments
cloudy as doubts. In my uncertain country
where right and wrong are cards
that can be shuffled like a pile of money bills,
even the land’s Chief Magistrate
is not immune from culpability; found guilty
he has to face the music of derision.
LITERARY THEORIES AND 21ST CENTURY LITERATURE

 FORMALISM AND SYMBOLS

- One of the literary theories used in analyzing text is formalism, which is the
mastery of the formal elements of literature and advocates the close reading of a text
when studying literature. Under formalism, when it comes to symbols, there are two
types:

Public symbols – are the symbols that are traditionally established, such as the
symbol of the rose for love.
Private Symbols – are the symbols that are used by the author, which can signify
whatever he would want it to mean, based on how it is portrayed in the text.

GUIDE QUESTIONS

1. Why are symbols important in a poem?

2. Why are symbols important in the life of a nation? What do people get
from the symbols of a nation?
3. Why does the poem describe the Philippines as “my uncertain country”?
4. What does the simile, “right and wrong can be shuffled like cards” mean?
What does this mean when it comes to any of the following: politics and
politicians, the police, and the justice system?
5. What is the poem trying to say about the difference between justice in the
Philippines and justice anywhere else?
6. Of all the objects that Justice owns, which one do you think is the most
important? Why?
7. Why does Justitia look like she is fading in the painting, “Is this
Philippine Justice?”?
8. Why is money mentioned in the poem?
9. Why it was important for the former Chief Justice to be impeached?
What does the impeachment convey to Filipino government officials?
10. What does “music of derision” mean as used in the poem? Why does the
former Chief Justice have to “face the music of derision”? Is he derided, not
only for his crime, but because he was caught?