BREAKING: PH must improve access on justice — Civil Law prof   

PHILIPPINE institutions must strengthen the voice of the poor and excluded in society by improving the public’s access to justice, a lawyer and policy expert said at a lecture in the University of Santo Tomas. 

“We are a country that seems to be cursed by continuing human rights violations. It’s quite incredible that the same violations that happened during the first Marcos regime continue to happen today,” lawyer Antonio “Tony” La Viña, former dean of the Ateneo School of Government, said during the 56th St. Thomas More Lecture at the University of Santo Tomas. 

He explained that there are four ways that the world is experiencing injustice: injustice on poor countries, differences between the poor and the rich, differences between generations, and differences between species. 

“It is always the rich that contribute the most in climate change but suffers the least,” the lecturer said. “[The rich have] the resources to deal with the impact [of climate change], while the poor contribute the least, but suffer the most.” 

La Viña said that accountability is needed to strengthen social institutions and improve the country’s justice system. 

According to the 2023 World Justice Project, which ranks the country in terms of criminal justice, civil justice, government powers, and fundamental rights, the Philippines is ranked 100th out of 142 countries in the rule of law, placing only 13th out of 15 countries in the East Asia and Pacific region.  

In relation to underscoring the importance of giving the minorities a voice, La Viña added that the poor should not be blamed for their sociopolitical decisions due to their economic status. 

“We always blame the poor for the bad results of our elections, which is really [a] non sequitur [fallacy], because if you look at [the] golden patterns, you know, the poor and the rich have similar golden patterns,” the lawyer said. A non sequitur is a type of fallacy wherein a statement that does not logically follow its previous arguments.  

“They don’t differ too much. There are no intelligent or poor voters,” he added. 

The St. Thomas More Lecture is an annual event hosted by the country’s oldest liberal arts college, the UST Faculty of Arts and Letters. 

About 577 students and faculty members attended this year’s onsite lecture, according to the Faculty of Arts and Letters’ office of the dean.  

Last year's lecturer was Fr. Nicanor Pier Giorgio Austriaco, O.P., a Thomasian biologist and professor, who discussed the theme, “Living a Life of Moral Integrity in a Culture of Corruption.” 

The event first started in 1968 in commemoration of St. Thomas More, the faculty’s patron saint, who was a lawyer and a writer. - M.L.B