March 23, 2015

Last Friday I met Chedelle, a 24-year old law student. We are both legal interns and assisting Cristina Sevilla. Cristina Sevilla is the founder and executive director of Action Against Violence and Exploitation and she is also a legal consultant for ECPAT Philippines.

On Friday Cristina took us both to a hearing in the case of Daniele Bosio, an Italian diplomat who is accused of child trafficking and child abuse. When we arrived at the Court after a two hour drive, we found out that there was no hearing. They told us that the hearing already took place the day before... But we had an order in our file that clearly said it was on March 20! And ECPAT never received an order to reschedule the hearing. Besides that, Cristina found out there were more documents not sent to her. When she asked for an explanation, they couldn’t give her an answer.

At the end of the day I asked Chedelle if she wanted to get coffee sometime so we could talk about our legal background, the Philippines and the criminal justice system. And so we did! I would like to share a small piece of our conversation. It was interesting, inspiring and we also had a lot of fun :)

Chedelle studies law, because she wants to help people and change the world. There is a lot of corruption in the world, especially in the Philippines, and she hopes she can make a change. She thought it was a cliché answer, but I was glad about her answer. It was a good start for the rest of our conversation.

Of course, we talked about what happened in the Bosio case. Corruption is a big issue in the Philippines and this was undoubtedly a case of corruption. Chedelle was really angry about what happened last Friday. I was also angry but above all I was confused. How is it possible that it is so obvious but there is nothing you can do? She just has to stay patient and polite. I understand why Chedelle gets so frustrated when we talk about this subject. She has to work in this system her whole life, I am here just for a few weeks. We agreed that the criminal justice system in the Philippines sucks!

Just like the Netherlands, the Philippines have a system of checks and balances. How is it possible that corruption is such a big issue here? 

The Philippines is a developing country and corruption is mostly about money. As a lawyer in the Philippines, you can earn a lot of money by being corrupt. Luckily there are also fair lawyers, like Cristina. They will not be tempted by bribery or other forms of corruption. 

Cristina is the most inspiring person I met in the Philippines. She is smart, funny, travels around the world to share her knowledge and fights for the rights of children and women. Both Chedelle and I admire her as a person and the work she does. I hope she will reach her goals and I am sure Chedelle is going to help her as much as she can.

When I asked Chedelle about her future and the future of the Philippine criminal justice system she told me she is scared. She doesn’t think the system will ever be completely fair. Besides that, she is a little bit scared for the future because she knows some female lawyers who are still single and she doesn't want to grow old alone. But lets be honest, every women, everywhere around the world, is scared to grow old alone right? I am sure she will be happy in love in a few years ;)

That was the point where I turned off the voice recorder. We talked about dating, tinder, parties, heart broken karaoke singing, sweet and sensitive Filipino man and how much I miss my boyfriend. And that is all private!