The Law in Atrophy

While being introduced to legislative floor, proposed law may either be as ridiculous as the Anti-Planking Bill or it can be as sublime and controversial as the Reproductive Health (RH) Bill, among many others, but in its final form, the Philippine Constitution and all the enabling law for that matter may humbly be described as one of the most comprehensive and substantive in the world. It practically covers every circumstances, acts, omissions and even far more remote situations and conditions that one could possibly imagine. Its roots was seeded on Hispanic and American Jurisprudence, both recognized then to be repositories of  the combined and aggregate experiences of the institutions under the civilize west. It was imbued with the same lofty ideals as that of the American Constitution promulgated after the independence of colonial America. In it dwells the same democratic premise and concept championed by the forerunners of the American Revolution. Truly the Philippine Laws is one of the well-crafted.

Albeit comprehensive, substantive and well-crafted, an inquiring soul may wonder what else have gone wrong  when that same good old law has failed to curve corruption, dishonesty, violence, cessation, chaos, disorder and disregard for human rights. Confidently, one may argue and conclude that strict enforcement, consistent and uniform application of the law through a penal system will achieve conformance. Partly true, but it is only temporary, in reality one may note that the only thing that was achieved was the objective of the penal system, not the objective of the law. The law and enforcement per se has not stop offenders, in fact and in general, worldwide crime index has never been placid. The law-maker predicts and commit to jurisprudence past offenses, preset the penalty, crosses its fingers and hopes that fear of penalty will dissuade prospective offender.  I know that we always deal on matters with the “presumption of regularity”, but it doesn't seem to be working, does it?

There is a saying, “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure”. I am an avid subscriber to this saying and thinking of how this maybe of relevance to the issue of crime for example, the word “prevention” keeps on popping like wild grass. Prevention is maybe the missing link to achieve the objective of the law. It is either under emphasized or ignored totally. I am not referring to prevention akin to punishment as what the current law has right now. What is in concept is prevention before commission, in contrast to prevention after commission and punishment, which is only the effect. Id like to dwell on prevention motivated by reward rather than punishment which in tandem with the former may in the long run could save lives, properties, shuttered dreams. Imagine the potential cost savings in jail maintenance and operation, custodial cost running in decades, litigation and court expenses, etc., a portion of such savings could instead fund a reward system. 

Now, boldness has its own reward so I will shoot the following questions; should there be a law on crime prevention that embodies the reward system that hopefully would augment the penal system? Should a victim be dis-favored for negligence by allowing opportunity and need to come together? Should there be an incentive for a citizen that has a clean slate of character? One funny thing about the penal system is they reward convicts for behaving while incarcerated while there is nothing for those who kept themselves out of trouble and out of jail. What if instead of just a penal system, there is also a reward system? Sounds crazy and outrageous, right? Well, at first thought it is outrageous. On the second thought, it’s crazy. But man since time immemorial has not been so receptive of punishment. It is and will always be a challenge to them. Reward on the other hand, that’s another thing, Man loved them. In fact, Man worked all their lives to harvest reward. It is a powerful motivator that keeps this world moving. Think about it…

http://www.trueactivist.com/netherlands-closing-19-prisons-due-to-lack-of-criminals/