By Rey E. Requejo and Roy Pelovello

THE Philippines should protest the report of the US State Department which claimed that corruption was widespread in the Philippine judiciary system, Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez said yesterday.

Gonzalez emphasized this was his personal view and not a statement as a Justice secretary, adding that the government should demand from the US what their basis was for making the allegations.

“They [US] should pinpoint the areas where corruption is prevalent,” he stressed.

The DoJ secretary clarified that he is making this statement not as member of the executive department but as “patriotic Filipinos hurt by the allegations made against his country.”

The Justice secretary said that it was unfair to compare the American legal system with that of the Philippines. The US system uses a jury while in the Philippines, a judge has the sole responsibility of evaluating a case.

The jury system is much quicker because there are more members to spread the workload to.

In its 2008 Human Rights Report, the US State Department said “the law provides criminal penalties for official corruption, however, the government did not implement the law effectively, and officials often engaged in corrupt practices with impunity.”

It also noted that corruption was a problem throughout the criminal justice system. The report said while the law provides for an independent judiciary, the judicial system “suffered from corruption and inefficiency.”

Personal ties and sometimes bribery resulted in impunity for some wealthy or influential offenders and contributed to widespread skepticism that the judicial process could ensure due process and equal justice, the report said.