As if crowded jails aren’t enough, the backlog of cases in the Mandaue and Lapu-Lapu City courts represents yet another ball and chain strapped to the country’s lumbering, grossly overburdened justice system.
Supreme Court Administrator Midas Marquez said some Cebu City justices will be tasked to share the case load with other judges in the two Metro Cebu cities to speedily dispose of cases which we guess may have been languishing for years.
The problem is the Cebu City courts already lost six judges who took early retirement. This means the judges assigned in the city will have to assume whatever pending cases they have as well.
The predicament these Metro Cebu courts find themselves in cannot be solely blamed on lack of government funding though it is likely the chief reason behind the turtle-like pace of prosecution and dispensation of justice in this part of the world.
For starters, judges still have to work with lawyers who have to assist clients, some of whom can barely read and write, as well as lawyers who use every legal loophole and delaying tactic to prolong proceedings.
It also starts with the gathering and presentation of evidence of which the police, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) and other law enforcement agencies are crucial in building airtight cases.
Marquez also mentioned the electronic court or e-court system, which aims to reduce case processing time, eliminate sources of corruption and improve public access to case information.
Lest we forget, there are also the mobile courts which are employed by the Supreme Court in order to do away with the small cases that often land in the docket and gather dust due to the growing case load piled on each judge.
But while some of these reforms are laudable, we ask if local governments like the Cebu City government which helped the city courts find a temporary new home after their old Palace of Justice building was severely damaged by the Oct. 15, 2013 earthquake, can do more other than extend monthly allowances to judges.
For all the blame heaped on the courts which are also vulnerable to corruption, one has to admit that support from the national government is sorely lacking especially in the current Aquino administration which is engaged in a tussle with the Supreme Court over the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP).
In the meantime, it’s incumbent upon all the officers of the court, from the judge to the lawyers and every member of the judicial system to work together and ensure the speedy dispensation of justice.