[....]
However, what irks me about this story is that it took them a delay of 9 years to reach a decision on such a simple case. Considering it's a government agency involved, you'd think they could have expedited the investigation.
The time is reasonable if we look at the process.
- The Regional Trial Court ruled in favor of the bettor but the PCSO appealed and brought it to the Court of Appeals.
- The Court of Appeals upheld the decision of the RTC but the PCSO still not convinced so they went to the highest court.
- The Supreme Court upheld the decision of the two lower courts.
The PCSO have all the resources so they exercised all their legal options and that's why it took a total of 9 years to come to a decision with finality. That means there will be no more appeals.
I totally get the legal process, but if we had a similar case like this in our countries, I doubt it would take even close to 5 years before the final decision is released. I understand that the Supreme Court is the highest court in the Philippines, and its decisions are final and can't be appealed. However, waiting for 9 years, in my opinion, is still way too long.