Shocking crime stats from Manila

An article in today's Asia Times mentions a few worrying statistics and trends in the country's justice system. Here are the highlights, at least related to courts:

In many murder cases across the country, the Supreme Court has ordered trials moved to Manila due to the perceived lack of independence of local courts and judges. 

While Europe convicts about 90% of its murder suspects, and the US approximately 60%, the Philippines conviction rate is less than 10%, according to the European Union's Philippine Justice Support Program.

I wouldn't be surprised if the Supreme Court also had ulterior motives behind moving murder cases to Manila, such as exercising greater control over these cases and improving its popularity by solving them. Nonetheless, it does dramatically highlight the enforcement gap still so prevalent in the country.