The Court of Appeals (CA) Cebu Station will soon have a new building as the Supreme Court set aside P336,000,900 for this purpose.
Supreme Court Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno’s announcement during yesterday’s celebration of the CA-Cebu Station’s 10th anniversary drew cheers from the CA justices and employees gathered at the Capitol Social Hall.
“It will be a reality. We are looking forward to the time that in the great province and city of Cebu will stand an edifice that will embody the highest ideals of those who live in the Visayas; a proud edifice showing the aspirations and the beauty with which a court will dispense justice,” she said.
However the fate of lower court judges and employees, presently holding office at the Qimonda I.T. Center, remains unknown.
Sereno said the Supreme Court (SC) is still looking for funds to fund a new building for personnel of the Cebu City Regional Trial Court (RTC) and the Municipal Trial Court in Cities (MTCC).
Feasibility study
Judges and employees of the RTC and the MTCC in Cebu City were transferred to the Qimonda building at the North Reclamation Area after the Palace of Justice was rendered “unfit for occupancy” due to damage caused by the 7.2 magnitude earthquake in Oct. 15, 2013.
The SC requested the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) to include P500 million for the feasibility study of a new building for the lower courts in the government’s 2015 budget but the agency dropped it.
The High Court is paying a monthly P1.2 million rental fee to Qimonda.
Mandate
The SC also released P36 million to fund construction of partitioned courtrooms at the third and fourth floors of the center.
The SC is eyeing to build a “Judicial Complex” on a lot donated by the Cebu City government to the CA at the South Road Properties (SRP).
But the High Court is also negotiating with Cebu Gov. Hilario Davide III who earlier offered the province-owned Department of Agriculture compound in barangay Guadalupe for a new Palace of Justice.
In her message, Sereno lauded the CA Cebu justices and employees led by CA Executive Justice Gabriel Ingles for serving the people in Cebu and the Visayas.
Still, the chief justice admitted there were times the judiciary fails to meet the expectations of litigants.
“People’s expectations for justice have not always been met positively. In fact, we have a sorry history before the eyes of our people. Sometimes, we were esteemed, sometimes not,” she said.
Sereno is hoping that the judiciary, especially the CA Cebu Station, will continue to live up to its mandate in providing fair and speedy justice.
Family
She said the SC is planning to introduce the electronic court system in Lapu-Lapu City after it successfully launched the project in Quezon City to organize court records.
“The SC will not be stingy in its resources. My approach is that we are a family. If we can provide resources to every member, every component of the judiciary, we will do that,” Sereno said.
In a speech, Ingles said the Court of Appeals-Cebu Station disposed more cases than it filed from 2004 to this year.
He said their station filed 18,160 cases from 2004 to 2014 and disposed 20,276 cases in the same period.
“In six out of 10 years, we have consistently disposed more cases than what we’ve filed,” Ingles said. /With Correspondent Victor Anthony V. Silva