Barely a week from inaugural, the Aquino Government hit the nail on the head when it moved to reform the institutions that had helped convert the nation into a "land of men and not of laws."

This concerns the Judiciary and Peace and Order conditions in the country. It's a test of political will and a difficult task - like forcing back toothpaste into the tube.

Certainly far more daunting a task than silencing the privileged sirens of the Rich and Famous, for which PNoy already got praises.

In the recent RED Mass held at the Manila Cathedral by the Catholic bishops to pray for the PNoy Government to succeed, President Aquino and embattled SC Chief Justice Renato C. Corona shook hands - with the latter asking God to bless the new president.

Stymied by the color-coded implication of being a mere GMA-creation and whose 8-year term exceeds that of Noynoy, he vowed to silence his critics and declared "You just watch me."

"Improving human structure is essential in maintaining integrity which in the final analysis gives us the right to judge. A corrupt judiciary is totally unacceptable as it severely handicaps the legal and institutional mechanism designed to curb abuses in government", he said in a recent speech. Truly?

If words could kill, all unfit judges should now then scurry into their foxholes and hide. Justice Corona had vowed that his priority is to "clean up the undesirable dishonest and corrupt judges." Strong words those from Corona, crowned head of the Judiciary. But the King of the Judiciary was not done yet.

" I will make sure that crooked members of the judiciary will not only be dismissed from the service but will also be disbarred. No ifs, no buts."

Corona probably took the cue from the PNoy campaign where the decrepit judicial system was named as one of the four targets for reforms by the 50-year old president.

Aside from the integrity audit of all judges, the Honorable Chief Justice must also work for the improvement of the pittance budget for the Judiciary.

Judges are poorly paid and makes them even more vulnerable to the importuning of those who want to control the law into their hands. That there are judges who resist temptation of the Judas Iscariot type and the stipends given by LGU units- in some parts of the country- means that not all judges are crooked. One swallow (bird) does not make a summer, as a fable says.

But it also means that righteous judges can survive.

PNoy complained that it takes 6 years to get justice issues resolved in this country. Corona goes to specifics: High Court 1.43 years, Court of Appeals 1.32 , Court of Tax Appeals 2.6 years and our favorite Sandiganbayan 6.6 years, good gracious.

In the regular (non-government related) courts, there are just too many people and too few judges. From an ideal of one judge per 10,000 Filipinos, today, there is only one judge for every 52,000 Filipinos.

A de-clogging of the courts is in order. The mobile courts, separate tax courts and the strengthening the barangay justice system through mediation and arbitration at those levels are in place. Obviously, from the results, much has yet to be done.

Simultaneous to this, the Palace had directed Leila de Lima of the DOJ and Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin to immediately dismantle the 152 private armies identified in the country as serving politicians and local kingpins.

To be involved here is the Independent Commission Against Private Armies headed by retired Justice Monina Zenarosa, created by the GMA rule in the aftermath of the world-condemned Maguindanao Massacre of 57 people (including 32 media men) allegedly by the Ampatuan family.

Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said President Aquino does not countenance private armies. "They should be strictly under the supervision of the Armed Forces and the national police. You cannot have an army dedicated to one politician to the detriment of the enforcement of the law by the appropriate enforcement agencies."

The Zenarosa Commission said that these group of armed men maintained by politicians and local kingpins " enforce their will on villages, towns and even cities".

According to the Commission, some of these private armies were set up for legal objectives like traffic management, anti-drug enforcement, criminality and even anti-insurgency but " in reality, it turns out they are used for partisan activities by the local governments that create them."

After all those dramatic rhetoric, however, our only question remains : If the national government knows there are 152 of such private armies-then they certainly know who and where they are. So, why them are some of them still in existence?

PNoy should be updated regularly about the results of this so-called "campaign."

On the local legislative score, as usual politics came into the picture in the distribution of the powerful committee chairmanships in both the provincial and city Sanggunians. To the winner belongs the spoils of war?

While there were some surprises at the provincial legislature, the Opposition in the city was wiped out with zero chairmanships out of the 22 available committees.

How the city legislative process will germinate into a democratic fusion of ideas and counter ideas will be in the hands of the minority especially Kagawads Mariquit Oppus and Bebiano Inting, who vowed to be active fiscaliziers.

Of course, the city can also hope that the professional training of vice mayor Jaz Montes will be used in good stead as she holds the reins in the discussion of legislative matters as presiding officer, a post reserved for the elected vice mayor.

Certainly there is time for partisanship, but statesmanship should take over when the higher interest of the people who elected them are at stake. Need more be said?

The national and local government are at the starting line- for another three years. It is time to watch where election promises end and real delivery begins. And let us judge them all by next election.

While reforms in the judiciary and the peace situation evolve nationally and cascade into the local scene, local legislative bodies independent of executive over-influence will make our democracy a reality and not a farce.

Now that the law making bodies of the local government units were installed and held their respective inaugural addresses, the public is keenly watching on how these august bodies will function for effective governance

In the province and city, the kick-off days started with complaints on chairmanships of the working committees. In the province, there were some provincial board members who claimed they wanted other committees but were not consulted.

But at least, they were given chairmanships

In the city is even worse, as aside from not being consulted, the lawmakers belonging to the minority bloc were deprived of any chairmanships (as if they were non existing). Of the 22 working bodies, not a single committee was given to any of the three minority bloc members to chair.

This is where transparency might be taking a risk when the minority bloc is deprived of any committee to hold on as chair. Politics could be the easiest culprit on why such thing of depriving lawmakers of their right to chair certain bodies at the Sangguniang Panlungsod. But, we were happy to hear during the inaugural session last Friday that both, kagawad Mariquit Oppus and Kagawad Bebiano Inting vowed to remain firm in their advocacy for transparent governance and will play their role as fiscalizers despite the non-holding of any chairmanship.

But, be it on a honeymoon staged, the public expects an objective Vice Mayor Jaz Montes to be maintain decency and transparency as she will stir the law making body of the city of Tagbilaran. Now, that she is back to the position which she held before, we know that the lady vice mayor will even be doing a much better accomplishment ahead.

The Boholanos expect the various law making bodies at the LGUs to be objective and transparent.

On top of this, the public expects an independent legislative body, free from any influence from the executive branch.

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