Executive Justice Gabriel T. Ingles (CDN PHOTO/TONEE DESPOJO)
FROM a peak of over 6,000 pending cases in 2010, the Court of Appeals Cebu Station (CA Cebu) reduced it to nearly half at 3,884 cases as of Sept. 31 this year.
Executive Justice Gabriel Ingles said all three divisions in Cebu disposed of more cases compared to the number of filed cases.
“Those who are entrusted with public office, from the highest to the lowest in rank, are not rulers who lord over the people but servants first and foremost,” Ingles said in his message during the 11th anniversary of the CA Cebu Station last Oct. 15.
“The court’s strength lies in the credibility of its decisions. The judiciary gains public respect and trust only through swift and credible dispensation of justice,” he said.
In previous years, Ingles said there were delays in resolving cases due to the reorganization of other justices in the CA Cebu Station. “We’re trying our best to address that,” he said.
Ingles said while the budget is ready for a new building for the CA Cebu Station, the Supreme Court (SC) decided not to use the 7,123-square-meter lot that was earlier donated by the Cebu city government.
Instead, the High Court is asking the city government to allocate a bigger area that will house not just the CA but also all the Regional Trial Courts and Municipal Trial Courts in Cebu City.
If the plan pushes through, all lower and appellate courts will be built in what will be known as the Judicial Center.
“The Supreme Court is proposing a land swap for a bigger area, also at the SRP,” Ingles told reporters.
SC Associate Justice Marvic Leonon met with Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama and Vice Mayor Edgardo Labella to discuss the plan.Ingles said the mayor was open to donating 1.5 hectares for the construction of the Judicial Center.
When will the plan be realized? Ingles said “Dako pa na og labangonon. (There is still much to be done.).”
“I hope they will expedite the construction of the CA building,” he added.
The CA Cebu Station, which is handling appealed cases in the Visayas, pays a monthly rental of over P200,000 for its current space in Banawa, Cebu City.
The SC allocated P336 million for a new appellate court building.
The plan has been put on hold while the SC is negotiating for a place that will also house the RTC and MTCC.