MANILA — Senator Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan urged the immediate passage of Senate Bill 1547, which seeks to establish a Justice Reform Commission, as public frustration grows over the government’s failure to imprison officials implicated in major corruption scandals.

“Atat na atat na ang taumbayan para sa katarungan. Gusto nilang makulong ang mga may sala, hindi malaya at nagpapakasasa sa kinurakot,” Pangilinan said, citing the multibillion-peso Flood Control Corruption Scandal, which he noted had led to deadly flooding, destroyed homes, and lost livelihoods due to stolen funds and governance failures.

Pangilinan, who chairs the Senate Committee on Justice and Human Rights, said persistent high-level corruption and the lack of convictions show that “the justice system has collapsed for ordinary citizens, while working perfectly for the powerful.”

Under the proposed measure, the Commission would conduct a comprehensive investigation into all five pillars of the justice system — law enforcement, prosecution, the judiciary, the correctional system, and the community. It would identify why cases involving public officials drag on, why backlogs grow, and why accountability repeatedly breaks down.

The body will be composed of members from both chambers of Congress and experts from the private sector and academe. It will be empowered to obtain data and documents from the Department of Justice, the Office of the Ombudsman, the Philippine National Police, and the Supreme Court; examine inefficiencies in procedures; assess barriers to justice for vulnerable sectors; and recommend urgent reforms.

“We will root out why the country’s justice system has massively failed, why the guilty remain free, why cases are delayed to death, and why corruption thrives,” Pangilinan said. “We must fix this system together as a nation, or watch public trust collapse even further.”

The Commission will operate for three years with the Philippine Institute for Development Studies serving as its research arm. It will also submit periodic reports and a comprehensive reform blueprint to Congress and Malacañang.