crime and punishment

I was on my way home yesterday, napping on my seat in the FX taxi, when I was jolted awake by the mention of the word 'hold-up'. I thought that it was our FX that was being robbed, but it turned out to be just the driver talking with somebody outside about what was happening up the road. Apparently, while I was dreaming about the money market equilibrium, we had been stuck in traffic for about 20 minutes because of a robbery incident near Concepcion Market. The police had cordoned off the area and traffic enforcers were rerouting traffic around the location of the incident. I don't know the specifics but from what I heard it was another FX taxi or a jeepney that was held up by some deranged fool from the squatter's area. As we continued on our way I listened to the animated conversation between two men in the back of the taxi, about lazy bums who had nothing else to do, about wiping out the squatter colonies, and about how the robbers who frequent that stretch of road run into the alleyways of the nearby slums and disappear before the police catch them. Being a victim of a robbery along that same road, I couldn't help but agree when they expressed their hope that they could be part of the angry mob that was sure to descend upon the hapless robber who dared to strike in broad daylight. I was also thinking about the story Erika told me earlier in the day about how she witnessed a thief alight from a jeepney and run right smack dab into the fast and furious traffic of the Quezon Memorial Circle with a very angry man right on his tail. The supposed victim caught the thief in a headlock and pummeled him with his fists, while bystanders and police converged on the scene and while traffic nearly halted to a standstill.

Scenes like this are very common here in this country. Everyday you hear stories about jeepneys, buses, and taxis held up and robbed by armed men. Everyday you hear about people who feel someone brush beside them then suddenly discover that their bags or purses or cellphones had been snatched away. More serious crimes such as rape and kidnapping also get their time in the spotlight almost everyday. We also hear stories about the corrupt and greedy people we have in our government.

Ours has almost become a culture of criminality, so much so that even members of religious orders have been accused of sexual abuse and corruption. There is also the constant threat of terrorism from secessionist groups in the south, from the Communist insurgency in the north, and from the local Al-Qaida cell Jemaah Islamiyah. It is getting to the point that not one day passes without at least one major criminal event.

We also hear stories of jails filled to the brim with people, of children jailed for petty crimes incarcerated along with murderers and rapists in cramped and smelly jail cells. CNN recently aired a story about our jails, and it was a very unflattering view of the Philippines.

Our justice system has its own problems. Some cases take years before they even get to court. Loopholes in our laws also assure criminals of lesser sentences. The plunder case of former President Joseph Estrada, all but forgotten in the wake of the current political crisis, has not yet been concluded, four years after he was removed from office. The Constitution itself is regularly trampled upon by power-hungry rabble rousers, even by government officials who have sworn to uphold and defend the very document they spit upon and ignore when they call for extra-Constitutional means to further their own ends in the current political crisis.

Such a situation is unacceptable in a nation that is supposed to be based on laws.

What can we do to rectify this problem? The death penalty we put into law years ago has not been allowed to reach its full potential as a deterrent to crime because of inconsistent application. The jails are so full of people, mostly criminals, but some are innocent, thanks to a bungling justice system that seems to be run more by politics and money rather than by a true commitment to justice.

How about some of these ideas?
Humiliate them(criminals).

What better way to ensure that criminals who have been caught don't return to their old ways than to destroy their dignity? Like for hold-uppers and snatchers. After the angry mob lynches them let's tie them on telephone poles or to trees for a few days, with a sign saying 'kick me' or some variation of that. Or like for corrupt government officials, why not tell their stories on national TV and plastering their faces on posters listing their crimes? Let's see them get voted into office again after that!

Conscript them into the Armed Forces.

Our military is one of the weakest in Southeast Asia. We can't even defeat a band of terrorists stranded on a little island! The infusion of all able-bodied men locked away in our prisons would give us the manpower, and decongest the prisons as well. Besides, why throw away PMA graduates in a charge on rebel positions? This would give us expendable cannon fodder!

Put them to work.

Instead of leaving them languishing in crowded prisons, why not put the criminals to work building our infrastructure? Or why not put them to work in mines or on farms? Aside from the productive work being done, our economy would also receive a boost from the improvements in our infrastructure and the new products supplied by our erstwhile untapped mines and farmland.

Remove the option of posting bail.

We must not give criminals a chance to escape the law. What if a robber uses the money he robbed to post bail when he is caught? This would also level the playing field between the rich and the poor, allowing our cultured and pampered corrupt officials to share the same comforts that poor, hardened murderers enjoy today.

Apply fully the death penalty.

No more staying executions. No more pardons. If you're a murderer, a rapist, or a kidnapper, you die.

Revamp the prison system.

Separate the children from the adults and create a better environment that would make their lives more productive.

Fix the justice system.

Ensure that the judiciary is fair and impartial in judging cases. Clear the backlog of cases and speed up the trial process. Cut the bureaucratic red tape and purge the system of corrupt elements.

Reduce, or better yet, eliminate poverty.

The number one cause of criminality. A vibrant, stable and growing economy will provide jobs for the large number of unemployed that have turned to crime to feed their families. A consistent population management program will lessen the competition for resources and services. Provision of good education will ensure an adherence to the rule of law and further enhance the capabilities of the population, invigorating the economy over the long run.

We can ill afford a culture of criminality. I believe that these, and other ideas have the capability of cleansing our nation of the unsightly blight that is crime if they are implemented by a government that has the will to implement them and the capacity to follow through with them. We need leaders. Strong, intelligent, patriotic leaders. Not only to eradicate crime, but to also lift our beleaguered nation out of the hole we have so joyously dug for it.