BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya— A member of the judiciary here has praised the leaders of the province for their non-interference on various cases filed before the Regional Trial Courts here.
“If you have cases and you approach the governor, the vice governor, members of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan, the provincial administrator, any other official of the province asking them to intervene in your favor, you will definitely get a negative response because our leaders here in Nueva Vizcaya respect the merits of law and independence of the courts,” said Judge Paul Atolba of RTC Branch 30.
Atolba said the provincial government and the judiciary only communicate when the latter requests for office equipment or supplies, which is often granted as a way of assistance.
He also thanked the officials of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology, the Parole and Probation Administration, and the Philippine National Police for being partners of the judiciary in the administration of cases filed and being heard at the RTC.
Atolba said they are currently following the Revised Guidelines for Continuous Trial of Criminal Cases under A.M. No. 15-06-10-SC, which calls for the speedy trials of all criminal cases effective Sept. 1, 2017.
Under regular rules by these guidelines, arraignment and pre-trial shall take 30 days, presentation of the prosecution’s and accused’s evidence shall take six months or 180 days, and promulgation of decision shall take 90 days from submission of case for decision.
Under special laws/rules, for drug cases, trial must be finished within 60 days from filing of information, and decision should come 15 days from submission of case for resolution.
For environmental cases, the court is allowed 30 days for arraignment and pre-trial, three months for trial, 30 days for memo, and 60 days from last day to file memoranda to come up with a decision.
Atolba said the local courts will have “little difficulty” because 77 percent of cases filed in court are criminal cases, classified as drug cases, environmental cases, intellectual property rights cases, and arraignment and pre-trial of cases referred to mediation.
“Our schedule is already full until the end of September this year, but we will try to comply with this directive the best way we can,” he said.