Monday, July 28, 2008
RTC still swamped with 6T criminal cases as of 2007; 1,990 civil cases pending
By Jujemay G. Awit
Sun.Star Staff Reporter
OVER 9,000 cases remained pending before the Cebu City Regional Trial Court (RTC) at the end of last year, according to court records.
Still, it was an improvement from the 11,030 cases the RTC was swamped with at the beginning of that year.
While 5,271 cases were disposed of that year, 5,002 cases were also filed in court.
The “ebb and flow” of cases remained almost the same through the years, said RTC Executive Judge Fortunato de Gracia Jr.
While there are still a number of pending cases before the RTC, it doesn’t mean that judges were remiss in their jobs.
De Gracia said he is satisfied with the movement of the cases in the Cebu City RTC.
“Sometimes there are variables that delay cases,” said de Gracia, and these are not always within the judge’s control. A party to the case could get sick or be kept from attending hearings by other reasons.
“Sometimes there is an unexplainable surge in the filing of cases but disposal remains constant,” Judge de Gracia told Sun.Star Cebu.
Criminal cases represent the bulk of the RTC’s caseload.
Pending criminal cases at the beginning of the year totaled 7,361, while 6,517 remained by the end of 2007.
There were 3,218 new criminal cases filed the entire year and 3,339 were closed.
The new civil cases filed in 2007 numbered 900, and the courts managed to dispose of 1,017. There were 2,609 cases pending at the beginning of the year and by the end, 1,990 had yet to be resolved.
Branch 22, a family court, received the most number of cases for 2007, with 774. That’s an average of 64 cases each month.
RTC Judge Manuel Patalingjug presides over the court and has disposed of 431 cases, the most out of the 22 Cebu City courts. He had 888 cases pending at the end of the year, more than the 557 pending at the start of 2007.
De Gracia had the most number of pending cases in 2007 with 915, of which 880 were criminal cases. His court, Branch 15, received 174 newly raffled cases. The court also disposed of 219 cases, but by the end of 2007, Judge de Gracia still had 830 cases to resolve.
Branch 14, presided by Judge Raphael Yrastorza, had the second highest number of pending cases by the end of 2006 with 810, but was left with 776 cases by the end of 2007.
Branch 11 disposed of only 43 cases at the end of the year. It is also the court with the fewest pending cases, at 120, by the end of 2006, and 196 by the end of 2007.
Judge Ramon Daomilas received 109 cases in 2007.
“Judges don’t have targets in the disposal of cases, but the goal is to resolve a case as fast as possible,” Judge de Gracia explained.
The Supreme Court also takes notice of the “ageing of the case,” he said. (JGA)
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (July 28, 2008 issue)
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