The House of Representatives’ committee on appropriations has taken steps to address the huge backlog hounding the country’s lower courts, especially amid the gains law enforcers have made in the ongoing war on drugs.
The committee, chaired by Davao City Rep. Karlo Nograles, approved the funding requirements of the substitute bill for House measures seeking the creation of positions for ‘judges-at-large.”
Covered by the substitute bill are House Bills (HB) filed by Marinduque Rep. Lord Allan Jay Velasco (HB Nos. 5215, 2308), MATA Party-List Rep. Tricia Nicole Velasco-Catera (HB 167) and Cavite Rep. Roy Loyola (HB 2308).
Nograles said these bills were consolidated and given the appropriations approval.
“The criminal justice system in the Philippines is perceived to be slow given the sheer volume of docketed cases. Human rights lawyer Jose Manuel Diokno once said that a trial in the country usually lasts six to 10 years. This measure presents a solution that aims to decongest court dockets in an efficient manner,” Nograles said.
Judges-at-large are basically deployable judges who have no permanent salas. This means they can be detailed by the Supreme Court (SC) to any court in the country, depending on the need.
The substitute bill provides for the creation of 50 Regional Trial Judges-at-Large and another 50 Municipal Trial Judges-at-Large. It amends sections of Batas Pambansa (BP) Bilang 129 for this purpose.
Nograles said the enactment of timely in the light of President Rodrigo Duterte’s no-nonsense anti-illegal drug campaign, which has led to the arrest of thousands of suspected drug offenders.
Since Duterte assumed the Palace seat on June 30, 2016, some 96,700 drug suspects have been jailed, according to an Agence France Presse report last September.
“Delaying the resolution of these cases is unfair to the defendant as well as the lawmen who risked their lives in the conduct of anti-drug operations. That’s why the speedy delivery of justice is so important–nobody has a monopoly over it,” Nograles said.
Under the measure, the salary level of the 100 judges-at-large will be equal to those received by Regional Trial Judges, Metropolitan Trial Judges, Municipal Circuit Trial Judges, and Intermediate Appelate Justices.
The new magistrates will also receive displacement allowances, which will cover their housing, food, transportation, and other necessary expenses incurred during their detail to courts which are outside their places of residence, the bill says.
The displacement allowances shall be determined by the SC upon the recommendation of the Court Administrator and the Plantilla Committee, it adds.