SC holds 1st virtual town hall meet

Chief Justice Alexander Gesmundo on Tuesday assured all lower court judges and personnel that the Supreme Court will promptly address their pressing concerns arising from the COVID-19 pandemic. 

During the High Court’s first-ever virtual town hall meeting, Chief Justice Gesmundo and the associate justices of the 15-member bench listened to the immediate health and work concerns of the lower court judges and personnel. 

Gesmundo was at the SC Division Hearing Room with the rest of the SC magistrates participating online via videoconferencing using the Philippine Judiciary 365 platform.

This was the first time the SC justices met with all 2,000 judges and court personnel collegially and online, using the live event feature of the Judiciary 365 platform. 

“We assure you that the Court En Banc will study the issues that you raised,” said Gesmundo who also gave his assurance that the SC “will pass and approve appropriate issuances in due time.”

During the inaugural town hall meeting, the high court, among others, gave the participants an update on the progress of the judiciary’s vaccination plan.

Senior Associate Justice Estela Perlas-Bernabe said that the SC’s request for inclusion in the priority population group A4 (category A4) of the Philippine National Deployment and Vaccination Plan for COVID-19 Vaccines has been granted by the National Task Force Against COVID-19. 

Since the NTF has granted the inclusion of judiciary employees in the priority population group A4, they are highly encouraged to immediately register with the LGUs of their residence or workplace. 

Among those who participated in the inaugural town hall meeting were officers and members of the Philippine Judges Association (PJA), Philippine Trial Judges League, Inc. (PTJLI), Philippine Women Judges Association (PWJA), Metropolitan and City Judges Association of the Philippines (MetCJAP), and the Philippine Association of Court Employees (PACE).