September 23, 2017•Update: September 24, 2017
By Roy Ramos
ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines
The justice system of the Philippines must be strengthened in order to address the impunity in the country, said Presidential spokesperson Ernesto Abella on Friday.
He was reacting to the report that the Philippines has the highest level of impunity in the world with 75.60 points.
“We must therefore strengthen the pillars of the criminal justice system, which include the community, law enforcement, prosecution, the courts and corrections,” said Abella as quoted by GMA News.
The 2017 Global Impunity Index (GII) released by the University of the Americas Puebla in Mexico revealed that the Philippines has the worst level of impunity among the 69 countries included in the scope of the global study with 75.60 points due to the “increase of violence related with organized crime and increased terrorist activities from local gangs linked to the Islamic State” in the country.
Abella said that the problem was already faced by previous administrations but the root cause – illegal drugs – has just been recently revealed and addressed to.
“Previous governments faced these same problems but it is only under this Administration that crime and terrorism are being decisively addressed,” he said.
“The true depth, breadth and magnitude of crime and terrorism, funded by illegal drugs, have only been recently uncovered; resistance from those adversely affected by the current government’s campaign against illegal drugs has been strong, and internal cleansing by organized crime have all had violent results,” he added.
The GII report was based on a more complex approach that studied the dimensions related with impunity such as security, justice and human rights. It says that the Philippines, along with Mexico have problems in all these dimensions.
