Order and Notice of Arraignement

[Galactus]

^^^ Usually, the PAO will ask for a re-setting. Judges don't act hastily on the fiscal's motion for an arrest warrant, and will normally give the accused another chance. Pag dun sa next re-setting hindi pa rin umattend, dun na lang pinagbibigyan ang motion ng fiscal for the arrest warrant.

I've wasted a lot of my time attending arraignments. We've sued a lot of people criminally (BP 22 and Estafa cases mostly, since I'm authorized to act as the private complainant in behalf of my employer). Bad trip talaga yung judges, especially in QC, kahit may notice yung accused at hindi sumipot sa arraignment. Kahit anung pilit ng private counsels namin, ayaw talaga ng mga judges, one more chance pa daw.

And in real life, yung mga fiscals na yan, they just sit on their chairs most of the time. The private lawyers of the complainants do all the work in the courtroom. The things you see in American legal dramas wherein the ADA's (the equivalent of our fiscals), do the direct/cross-examination and objections, do not happen here, and I've been attending hearings for almost 5 years in QC, Pasig City and Makati. Makes me wonder if our taxpayer's money is being squandered.

[jozef_10]

And in real life, yung mga fiscals na yan, they just sit on their chairs most of the time. The private lawyers of the complainants do all the work in the courtroom. The things you see in American legal dramas wherein the ADA's (the equivalent of our fiscals), do the direct/cross-examination and objections, do not happen here, and I've been attending hearings for almost 5 years in QC, Pasig City and Makati. Makes me wonder if our taxpayer's money is being squandered.

i have to disagree with you on this. you can check the calendar of cases of a regular trial court in a week and look at their list of criminal cases. you will see that majority of the cases are not handled by private prosecutors since most people cannot afford one or they forego the services of a private counsel.

the reason why you don't see the fiscal do the direct or cross is because the private prosecutor, if there is one, asked permission and authority from the fiscal to do it and the fiscal delegates the prosecution of the case. if the amount involved in estafa and b.p. 22 cases are substantial, it is likely that there will be a private prosecutor involved. but most criminal cases that clog the dockets of courts are not of these type.

[Galactus]

Well, to each his own. My experience firsthand is that the fiscals do relatively nothing. They may be good in drafting resolutions and the like, but litigation is an entirely different matter.

And you are wrong in saying that Estafa/BP 22 cases do not comprise the majority of criminal cases swamping the courts. AFAIK, 70% of all pending cases are of such type (I know I read it somewhere, I just can't remember).

And let me just reiterate that I've been attending court hearings in QC, Pasig City and Makati for almost 5 years, at least twice a month. And NOT ONCE in those hearings have I seen the fiscal do a direct or cross examination, even if the plaintiff has no private lawyer of his own.

In the RP, it really sucks to be poor.

[jozef_10]

AFAIK, 70% of all pending cases are of such type (I know I read it somewhere, I just can't remember).

that is quite a number

And let me just reiterate that I've been attending court hearings in QC, Pasig City and Makati for almost 5 years, at least twice a month. And NOT ONCE in those hearings have I seen the fiscal do a direct or cross examination, even if the plaintiff has no private lawyer of his own.

i attend hearings at least twice a week

[ab_initio]

^^there are about 720 RTCs all over the Philippines. the stat does not include the MTCs, MCTCs, and MeTCs. there are trial courts appointed by the Supreme Court to be hearing a majority of cases for estafa, drugs, domestic violence and marital squabbles, there are some courts assigned with judges trained to hear Intellectual Property cases. Now, we have courts appointed to hear or take cognizance over violations of environmental laws.

in fairness to the fiscals, i have known many of them to be defending and upholding the interests of the Republic of the Philippines. but for cases which present clearly the greater interest belonging to the private complainant, such as BP 22 or estafa arising from the transaction which led to the issuance of checks by the accused which caused the private complainant to part with his goods, in these cases, the prosecutor would gladly delegate the same to a hired lawyer and concentrate on other equally important cases.