Senator-elect Raffy Tulfo on Wednesday said he would push for modern courts and more online hearings of cases at jails and courts.
“I am open to working with the Supreme Court and the Court Administrator on how to increase the efficiency of its work processes through digitization, computerization, and faster communication, while still maintaining proper administration of justice,” said Tulfo.
He said this is necessary and urgent so that the innocent and the reformable detainees can be released sooner rather than later by the tens of thousands.”
Tulfo, who took his oath as a senator before Supreme Court Justice Marvin Leonen, said he is aware that a digitization and computerization process is underway in the Judiciary. Supporting this laudable effort, Tulfo sees the need to invest in more physical facilities at the courts and at the detention facilities nationwide.
Tulfo said, “more online or video conferencing sessions are needed not just at the courthouses or halls of justice, but also at the jails at the municipal, city, and provincial levels. Especially at the jails where there is high congestion, there should be a room or hall where several court hearings can be simultaneously conducted. Every detention facility should have a venue for online court hearings,” he explained.
He also said, “there should be more “courts on wheels” which are buses configured for the conduct of remote hearings. These courts on wheels would be for the remote places where physical facilities are not available because the courts on wheels would be the better, cost-efficient option.”
He said there is also the matter of switching faster from a paper-based process to a fully digitized system.
He said court documents should be digitized and stored in a secure digital database while the paper documents can be stored in regional warehouses. Incoming new documents should be digitized outright.
“I look forward to seeing the proposed solution of the Supreme Court to this problem,” he also said.