Philippine E-Journals

Trailblazing Transformative Accountability for High Performing Philippine Prosecutorial Services for the 21st Century

Arthur S. Velasco

Discipline: Social Science, Political Science

 

Abstract:

This study is focused on the prosecution as a major service component of the criminal justice system and analyzes the changing role of prosecutors in light of the Philippine and global prosecutorial demands of the 21st century. This study employs an institutional development approach for strengthening the prosecutorial services from the traditional approach case processor to a proactive and cost-effective approach that could make prosecutors meet community demands in preventing crimes. Overall, the study will attempt to improve the National Prosecution Service (NPS) of the Philippines in terms of: (a) qualification, selection and training; (b) case handling; and (c) interaction with criminal justice actors. The study will further determine the involvement of the community in the successful prosecution of cases. Finally, the NPS will be able to make a design implement the community prosecution service in the Philippines during the 21st Century. Survey, group discussion, interview, and triangulation were done to answer the research problems. The survey questionnaires were gathered from the following respondents: prosecutors, judges, lawyers, probation officers and barangay officials. The result disclosed the need to improve the qualification, selection, and training; interaction with criminal justice actors; establish a better community partnership; establish information technology; and improve prosecutorial service outcome assessment in the Prosecutorial Service. It is recommended that a reform framework anchored on developmentally-oriented prosecutorial service, community prosecution be adopted and to update the law on NPS (P.D. No. 1275 as amended and R.A. No. 10071).