Language and the law

PINOY KASI
Language and the law
By Michael Tan
Inquirer
Last updated 00:58am (Mla time) 08/25/2006

Published on Page A13 of the August 25, 2006 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer

WE complain endlessly about how lawless the country is. But there are really two sides to this. On one hand, the rich and powerful know what the laws are, and manipulate the legal system to their advantage. On the other hand, you have the poor, who don't know the laws and end up being victimized by the powerful.
Language seems to aggravate the situation. With English still dominating our legal system, it's no wonder that the laws favor the rich.
I thought about these problems of language and the law as I read a copy of a letter from Napoleon Imperial to Sen. Manuel Lapid (Lito Lapid, to most Filipinos). Nap, who is with the education and manpower development division of the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda), was appealing to the senator to push for the use of Filipino, from the legislative processes to trial proceedings.
Model laws
Nap's letter got me thinking. Perhaps one reason the nation is in shambles is that the vast majority of Filipinos have little appreciation of our laws. I intentionally used the word "appreciation" because we have many wonderful laws, so much so that other countries sometimes look to our laws as models. Let me cite a few examples:
The Generics Act of 1989 is still cited in medical journals and consumer magazines worldwide as an example of how governments can promote rational drug use, and bring down drug prices, through the use of generics.
Our National AIDS Prevention Law, passed in 1995, has been hailed by AIDS groups as model legislation with its incisive provisions on prevention, treatment and care. Policy analysts have pointed out that the law, with its strong anti-discrimination clauses and support for a multisectoral National AIDS Council, may have been one reason the prevalence of HIV in the country is low.
During a recent trip to Thailand, I met a woman legislator who told me she had been inspired by one of our laws that penalizes marital rape. She's been working to get a similar law passed there.
Then there's the recent passage of the Juvenile Justice Bill, which prohibits the imprisonment of minors and provides for rehabilitation services. I predict that it will inspire legislators in other countries to pass similar ones.
Rights
The list could go on and on. We do have good laws but they would become even more effective if more people understood them, and used them. There were multi-lingual information campaigns around the Generics Act shortly after it was passed, and that helped to make an impact. Alas, with time, the campaigns dwindled and many provisions of the law are rarely enforced.
With traffic regulations, we see attempts to use local languages for better enforcement. We see more street signs now in Filipino, but they still remain largely ineffective, partly because even in Filipino, the messages are not clear.
Nap Imperial's point is to have new laws translated into and disseminated in Filipino. But I suspect laws in Filipino may be even more obscure than in English, so even more important would be public discussions of these new laws, conducted in local languages and through the mass media. Just listen to the legal assistance programs on radio, and you'll find listeners calling in non-stop, asking, in Filipino, about a wide range oflegal issues from late birth registration to inheritance.
I'd like to see these programs going a step further and helping to change the Filipino view of the law. Right now, Filipinos look at laws mainly as prohibitions, exemplified by all the "bawal" [prohibited] signs we see on the road. Since the powerful are always getting away with doing what's prohibited, Filipinos end up looking at the "bawal" signs and our laws as "suggestions"-things that you shouldn't do, if there's a risk of getting caught.
Our public service programs should do more to emphasize how laws protect people. A "No Parking" sign is there to prevent street congestion. A "Slow" sign may mean the area has many schoolchildren crossing.
We need more discussions, too, about how laws help to assure fairness, to protect rights. A "No Counterflow" sign should be explained not just to prevent traffic gridlocks but also to ensure fairness. Why should anyone be allowed to speed forward ahead of all the others who have been patiently waiting?
Language is important again to "interrogate" laws, and the principles behind these laws. I once heard on radio an aggrieved woman complaining, "Hindi karapat-dapat. Hindi fair." ["It's not right. It's not fair."] We need to talk more about fairness, and the law, along lines of what should be.
Grievances
Nap also describes how court proceedings in English put many Filipinos at a disadvantage. One reason is that their poor grasp of English prevents them from following what's going on. But language isn't just a medium, it's a setting as well. When judge and lawyers speak in English, they duplicate the existing power inequities: We, the English speakers, know what's right and you, the speakers of the "vernacular," of the "dialect," are ignorant.
Contrast our court hearings with our "barangay" [village or neighborhood district] justice system, where the protagonists can confront each other in Filipino or the local language, with barangay officials mediating. Again, language sets the stage. Being able to speak, even occasionally curse -- in Filipino or Cebuano or Ilocano -- allows people to bring outimportant information to argue a case. Speaking in Filipino, the barangay captain comes through as firm, yet understanding. I've seen a tiny woman barangay captain restrain huge bullies, calm fiery wives, admonish haughty mistresses with two words: "Makinig ka." She wouldn't have been as effective if she said, "Listen."
Our notions of democracy revolve around voting, but I'm less impressed with our elections than by the ways we lobby for or against laws. Politicians' speeches leave me cold, but I'm always impressed with forums where a peasant, or a worker, or a student, is able to explain a law with all the eloquence that can come only with using local languages. Speakers using English fall flat, the laws degenerating into jargon, distant andirrelevant. In Filipino or a local language, the words fly, bodies move, almost musically, as people begin to appreciate a law, and claim it as their own. Now that's citizenship.
Similarly, the use of Filipino in barangay halls allows people to speak their minds. Not surprisingly, the barangay hearings are often resolved without going on to the police station or a court, sometimes in just one afternoon. People can feel justice is done, and that the laws do benefit citizens.
"Galing!" ["Very good!"] I've heard people say after a barangay hearing. And I know they were not just praising the skills of the barangay officials, but also expressing how they felt, a sense that they're recovering from whatever wrong was done. That's justice, brought about by the synergy of language and law.