Leonen tells jail officials: Justice must restore, not just punish

MANILA, Philippines — Senior Associate Supreme Court Justice Marvic Leonen called on jail officials on Wednesday, July 9, to rethink the country’s punitive approach to crime, warning that the justice system disproportionately punishes the poor while failing to offer meaningful reforms.

“I think all of us know that people who suffer [from systemic problems] are usually the people who are poor. All of us have an explanation of why that is so,” Leonen said in a keynote speech before officials of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP). “A moral justification for this system is therefore necessary.”

Leonen criticized the prolonged pretrial detention of individuals too poor to afford bail, saying many suffer in overcrowded and inhumane jail conditions.

“I am sure all of you know of people who have undergone detention or perhaps stayed in Muntinlupa,” he said. “And when they were released, nothing significant [happened] to them except the passage of time.”

Leonen warned that jail congestion and the inhumane treatment of persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) can harden individuals rather than rehabilitate them. “Imagine (a man) being jailed for stealing sardines just so his family can eat will come out already training in the art of killing people or stealing [from] someone,” he said.

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Leonen traced the flaws to the judicial system's inheritance of outdated and classical theory of punishment. “It is agnostic or blind to personal circumstances and socioeconomic conditions,” he said.

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He urged officials to open their minds to restorative justice: a system that views crime not merely as a violation of law, but as harm inflicted on relationships between the offender, the victim, and the community. It centers on healing, accountability, and reintegration.

“We should interpret [and] advocate for our people, bringing life to the letter of the law, revisiting outdated doctrines and practices and examining how they fit into our contemporary realities — revising them if necessary,” he said.

The speech was delivered on the second day of a three-day national conference and training on restorative justice, the first of its kind in the Philippines.

Leonen reminded the BJMP that PDLs must be recognized as individuals entitled to the right to life, which entails a life with dignity, access to necessities, and opportunities to grow.

“We must dare to imagine this society because it is through imagination that the seeds of change spring forth,” he said. “We must believe that by working with our people who suffer, our society can become more humane.” /das/abc

 

(2025/07/09-11:58)

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