New office for province, regional fiscals

A BUILDING along Osmeña Boulevard in Cebu City became the temporary office of both the Cebu Provincial Prosecutor’s Office and the Regional State Prosecutor’s Office since last month.

Regional State Prosecutor Fernando Gubalane said yesterday that the Department of Justice (DOJ) picked the Taft Commercial Center building for the two prosecutor offices.

Gubalane said the Cebu City Prosecutors’ Office chose to remain near the Palace of Justice building that was severely damaged by last year’s Oct. 15 earthquake.

Cebu Provincial Prosecutor Pepita Jane Petralba said provincial prosecutors will handle inquest proceedings at the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) building beside the Palace of Justice even if they transferred at the Taft Commercial Center.

Petralba said the DOJ and owners of Taft Commercial Center entered into a contract for the prosecutors to stay at the building while the Palace of Justice will be repaired.

She said the DOJ is paying Taft Commercial Center P180,000 every month for occupying the second and third floor of the building.

The Palace of Justice where the prosecution services in Cebu and Central Visayas used to hold office was deemed “unfit for occupancy” by the Office of the Building Official (OBO) due to last year’s earthquake.

Cebu City prosecutors refused to leave the Palace of Justice since they are staying at the ground floor which didn’t sustain major structural damage.

Asst. City Prosecutor Gandhi Truya said they requested the OBO to reinspect the Palace of Justice.

“If doctors make a mistake, I think the same goes for engineers. How many hours did the OBO inspect the building? One to two hours? I hope they will specify what particular damage the Palace of Justice sustained. Hopefully, they will re-assess their findings. Every decision is subject to reconsideration,” he said.