[{"bbox": [96, 178, 1134, 499], "category": "Text", "text": "**Anti-corruption** poses significant threats in the Philippines where it is heavily embedded in all segments of society. Corruption weakens institutions, erodes trust and threatens the economy by undermining fair competition and discouraging investment and trade. Corruption in the Philippines disproportionately affects disadvantaged groups, specifically the poor, as well as ethnic and religious minorities, preventing social inclusion, promoting inequality and inhibiting prosperity. Corruption is also a major obstacle for the opening of the economy, as it prevents high-quality investments. A specific action will be important to open space for a dedicated policy dialogue on how to address corruption – linked i.a. to the roll out of the Global Gateway initiatives under priority 1 of the MIP. The action will support anti-corruption measures both at national and local level, contributing to a better conducive public administration and its services for the citizens. The action might envisage capacity building, monitoring and awareness raising of anti-corruption measures specific to public procurement for infrastructure investment projects (link to Global Gateway Initiatives). There will be also a connection to the ongoing work on Open Government Partnership and the move towards e-governance."}, {"bbox": [85, 585, 341, 616], "category": "Section-header", "text": "## 2.2 Problem Analysis"}, {"bbox": [96, 630, 1134, 709], "category": "Text", "text": "The main issues with the justice system in the Philippines are the **quality of justice** provision and the **barriers faced by people to access justice**. These challenges are proving difficult to overcome, as confirmed in the PDP 2023-2028⁹."}, {"bbox": [96, 738, 317, 762], "category": "Section-header", "text": "**Lack of Coordination:**"}, {"bbox": [96, 764, 1134, 1003], "category": "Text", "text": "The **administration of justice** is shared by the Executive and Judiciary branches of government. A relevant shortcoming, which affects the efficiency and effectiveness of the system is the lack of proper coordination between its different pillars – law enforcement, prosecution, courts, correction, and the community. Criminal investigations for example, are being carried out independently by the police instead of being supervised by the prosecution or the judiciary as in most civil law countries, which results in cases being brought to dockets lacking sufficient merits or being improperly built, therefore causing unnecessary clogging of dockets, and result often times in unnecessary, and possibly lengthy, detentions. Additionally, there is often a lack of shared understanding of concepts and procedures/protocols, and information systems may not be compatible such as the corrections system and the courts are not linked."}, {"bbox": [96, 1028, 1134, 1189], "category": "Text", "text": "As mentioned in section 2.1 above, the need for improved coordination between the different justice sector actors had already been highlighted in the PDP 2017-2022's chapter on Justice, and the new PDP 2023-2028 is choosing to maintain and deepen this policy. Beyond the institutionalisation and expansion planned in the PDP, and with the support of the EU's GOJUST II, the Supreme Court, the DOJ and the DILG are also working to improve quality and results orientation of the work of JZs –which until now was largely unregulated and dependent on the interest of local officials – through the introduction of standards for planning and reporting."}, {"bbox": [96, 1214, 1134, 1455], "category": "Text", "text": "Coordination of the justice agencies and initiatives is a mandate of the Justice Sector Coordinating Council (JSCC), the coordinating mechanism between the Supreme Court (SC), the Department of Justice (DOJ) which includes the Public Attorney Office, and the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), including the PNP and the LGUs. Support to the JSCC will allow a multi-sectoral approach in the planning and implementation of reforms in the criminal justice system and the Justice Zones. In addition, the Inter-Agency Council on Violence Against Women and their Children (IACVAWC), a multi-sectoral body established to ensure effective implementation of the law and be the lead coordinator and monitoring body on VAWC initiatives, could play a role and might be supported in the context of this action."}, {"bbox": [96, 1485, 1134, 1592], "category": "Text", "text": "New modalities, such as the “thematic” Justice Zones are currently being introduced (working for example on combatting trafficking in persons) and are supported by the EU’s GOJUST II programme. Work in these new thematic zones will expand the coordination mechanism, involving national agencies outside the justice sector, local government authorities and Barangay committees with responsibilities on the issue, and even civil society"}, {"bbox": [85, 1620, 693, 1646], "category": "Footnote", "text": "⁹ Chapter 13 of the PDP 2023-2028 (Enhance Administration of Justice)."}, {"bbox": [85, 1682, 194, 1707], "category": "Page-footer", "text": "Page 6 of 32"}]