Senator Francis Pangilinan on Monday announced that he plans to file a measure creating a congressional commission tasked with examining weaknesses in the Philippine justice system.
He said the proposal responds to growing public frustration over the government’s inability to hold corrupt officials accountable.
“This week, I will be defending the judiciary budget. Unless we punish more and we punish swiftly, the public’s respect for our laws will become voluntary,” said Pangilinan.
During an interview, the senator explained that the planned body would function similarly to the Second Congressional Commission on Education, which conducted a sweeping national review of the education sector.
Pangilinan, as chairman of the Senate Committee on Justice and Human Rights, will lead the sponsorship of the proposal.
The commission, he said, would give lawmakers a structured mechanism to assess systemic issues across courts and prosecutorial agencies.
Pangilinan pointed to the judiciary’s 47 percent conviction rate, which he compared to around 90 percent in Japan and more than 80 percent in Hong Kong.
He also cited roughly 5,000 unserved arrest warrants before the Sandiganbayan, with some cases lingering for decades.
“The judiciary would have to accept that they have unwittingly and by default helped create the impunity happening in the country, and therefore should take stock,” the lawmaker asserted.
He said the average case takes about four years to resolve, which he described as far too long for an effective justice system.
“These are what we have to do to punish more and to punish swiftly so that people will be deterred. Right now, no one is really being jailed. It is sad, but that is what we truly need to target here,” Pangilinan said.
