Mobilizing justice: the political economy of the Philippine judicial system and a critical feminist analysis of the Supreme Court's enhanced justice on wheels program

Abstract

The Philippine justice system is at a depressing state of overcongestion and financial deprivation. As of 2018, the country's jails are experiencing an overcapacity rate of 365-2000% while courts, during 2005-2010, are facing 1,059,484 cases or 4,221 cases per working day. In addition, the financial insufficiency is an essential factor that burdens the judiciary in solving the aforementioned problems. Receiving 1% of the annual national budget is a clear manifestation of the state's neglect in justice dispensation program. As a coping mechanism, the judiciary implemented the "Enhanced Justice on Wheels" program that aims to provide a mobile court and auxiliary programs like medical mission, legal literacy program, and mediation to persons deprived of liberty. The goal of the mobile court is to provide swift justice dispensation and to decrease the overcongestion in jails. Because of the insufficient budget, the Supreme Court sought the help of the World Bank and local government units to finance the program. However, the support provided by the private individuals tainted the impartiality of the Supreme Court with clientelism and corruption. Misuse of allocation and misuse of the mobile courts as election paraphernalia were reported to criticize the program. The researcher also evaluated the Enhanced Justice on Wheels program and its contribution in providing female inmates legal assistance. Unfortunately, the Enhanced Justice on Wheel program does not cover penitentiaries and is only limited to provincial jails, city jails, and detention centers, among others. Such limitation prohibits the program from visiting the Correctional Institute for Women, the only female-exclusive penitentiary in the country. Along with the health hazards, mental anguish, and economic vulnerability of female inmates, the researcher identified and analyzed the effects of the Enhanced Justice on Wheels program to female inmates. In order to do so, the researcher used the CEDAW and UNDP indicators and utilized methodologies such as interview, discourse analysis, and resource mapping, among others.