By Charissa M. Luci-Atienza
The House Committee on Justice approved yesterday 10 bills seeking the creation of additional branches of the Regional Trial Court (RTC) or Municipal Trial Court (MTC) in many parts of the country.
The panel, chaired by Oriental Mindoro Rep. Reynaldo Umali passed House Bills 2105, 2878, 6313, 6318, 6485, 6486, 6698, 6894, 6977 & 7325, filed by North Cotabato Rep. Jose ‘Pingping’ Tejada, Misamis Oriental Rep. Juliette Uy, Muntinlupa Rep. Rozzano Rufino Biazon, Bohol Rep. Rene Relampagos, Southern Leyte Rep. Roger ‘Oging’ Mercado, Davao City Rep. Karlo Alexei Nograles, Speaker Pantaleon ‘Bebot’ Alvarez, and Minority Leader Danilo Suarez, respectively.
“It is a wake-up call to our judiciary. These bills were filed based on our observation and request from our constituents due to the fact that there are cases sitting and sleeping on court salas,” Mercado, chairman of the House Committee on Constitutional Amendments, said.
The bills were approved yesterday amid the reservations expressed by the Office of the Administrator to some measures. Umali said his panel decided to pass the 10 bills whether or not the Office of the Court Administrator nods to the measures.
“I filed bills to create different court salas both in RTC and MTC, because I don’t see it coming in the SC from the Office of the Court Administrator that you are considering creation of courts, even though court dockets are clogged. I think the Office of the Court Administrator should be proactive in engaging the LGUs and even the representatives so that they will be well-informed of the actions that will be taken by the Office of the Court Administrator in our respective jurisdiction,” he said.
Before the approval of the measures, Minority Leader Suarez reminded the Office of the Court Administrator that the appropriations for the implementation of the bills will come from Congress.