Appellate court in Mindanao to rise in Indahag

ALMOST seven years after it was inaugurated in 2004, the Court of Appeals–Mindanao (CA-Mindanao) will soon stand in a six-hectare lot in Barangay Indahag.

With a P292-million budget, the new CA building broke ground last Friday.

Associate Justice Romulo V. Borja said the search for a suitable lot for the construction of the building has been “a long and uphill road.”

Borja said even before the inauguration of the Cagayan de Oro Station, former Supreme Court Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr. “was already looking for a suitable site of the permanent building.”

He said the new site of CA-Mindanao will be a showcase of the Judiciary’s commitment to the protection of the environment.

“It will showcase a modern, high digital technology and environmental friendly building in the country. It will allow us also to develop a mini-rain-forest, a water-catchment area and the ambitious goal to have a zero-carbon footprint building and site,” Borja said.

Retired Justice Teresita Dy-Liacco Flores, the first Executive Justice of Cagayan de Oro station, continued the search for a site when Mayor Vicente Emano pointed the 100-hectare lot in Barangay Indahag that has been recently reverted to public domain.

Justice Flores, with more consultations done with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) offices, was able to get Presidential Proclamation No. 1518 reserving the six hectares, which was issued in 2008, including the access road from the highway.

However, flaws in the technical description of the lot in the earlier proclamation led to the resurvey until Presidential Proclamation No. 2118 dated June 29, 2010 rectifies the error in the meter and bounds of the property.

Special Patent No. 3772 was then issued and OCT No. 137-2011000065 was issued by the Register of Deeds for Cagayan de Oro pursuant to the said patent.

Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio said Davide has already earmarked P40 million for the construction of the building.

He said the bidding and construction will be undertaken by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).

However, based on the actual costs, the CA-Mindanao requires at least P290 million.

Carpio said from the SC’s existing savings, an additional P251.27 million will be earmarked on top of the P40 million existing allocation in line with the July 17, 2012 SC en banc resolution.

“CA-Mindanao in Cagayan de Oro is quite fortunate since it will be the first, last and final groundbreaking unlike other CAs in the country,” Carpio said.

The CA Cebu will also get P266.95 million on top of the P40 million earmarked in 2004 for the construction of its new building.

Both CA Cebu and CA-Mindanao in Cagayan de Oro are currently renting spaces.

The total amount for the construction of these courts is P2.38 billion.

Last week’s groundbreaking ceremony was attended by SC Associate Justices Jose P. Perez and Teresita J Leonardo-De Castro, CA Presiding Justice Andres B. Reyes Jr. and city and provincial government officials.