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Tuesday, January 17, 2006
Malilong: Last bulwark
By Frank Malilong Jr.
The Other Side
I’m not sure if he was quoted correctly, but Chief Justice Artemio Panga-niban stirred a hornet’s nest last week when he reportedly said in an interview that the Supreme Court may defer the implementation of the “regionalized” Court of Appeals because of the lack of funds.
My doubt on the accuracy of the news report stemmed from a supposed direct quote from the Chief Justice that they “are considering canceling the regionalization” of the Court of Appeals (CA) because Congress has not provided the funds to implement the program.
Indeed new divisions have been created and stationed in Cebu and Cagayan de Oro, but they are not regional courts (of appeals) because there is only one CA. Panganiban may have been misquoted. By cancellation, he could have only meant recalling these divisions to Manila.
That would be a disaster, to say the least. The assignment of three divisions in Cebu has been a blessing to the law practitioners and their clients.
We no longer have to file our petitions by mail or travel to Manila to secure urgent orders such as a temporary restraining order or an injunction.
But the best part of all is that your appealed cases are now decided with dispatch. In the past, you would be fortunate if the CA can decide your appeal in five years. Either the sheer number of appeals or petitions for review assigned to a justice was simply overwhelming or it took so long to complete the records of cases coming from the provinces.
That is not so anymore. Judicial data and statistics show that the justices assigned in Cebu are among the most, if not the most productive, in the entire Court of Appeals. In October 2005, for example, Justice Isaias P. Dicdican’s record of 41 disposed cases was topped only by Justice Eugenio Labitoria, who was retiring and had to clear his docket.
Compared to their Manila counterparts whose numbers were mostly in the mid-teens, none of the Cebu justices tallied below 20 in case disposals for that month. Justice Ramon M. Bato Jr. had 35; new Executive Justice Arsenio Magpale and Justice Vicente Yap tied at 32, followed by Justices Pampio Abarintos (31), Mercedes Gozo-Dadole, who has since retired (27) and Enrico Lanzanas (20). Note that there were only 21 working days in October last year.
Considering these impressive numbers, I doubt if a recall is imminent or even possible. The Chief Justice’s complaint about the lack of financial support from Congress should, however, be seriously looked into. The judiciary does enjoy fiscal autonomy but I was told that the judicial development fund is not enough to meet the CA’s expansion requirements.
Before they’d even think of amending the Constitution, Congress should attend to something more urgent and closer to home.
The judiciary, in case they have forgotten, is, after all, the last bulwark of democracy.
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (January 17, 2006 issue)
Write letter to the editor.Click here.
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