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Tuesday, March 02, 2004
Judge Avisado resigns
By Raquel C. Bagnol
* Resignation prompted after SC refused for the second time to grant her request for additional drugs court in city
* Says she intends to air drug court's problems as an 'outsider advocate'
JUDGE Adoracion Avisado of the Regional Trial Court (RTC) 9 resigned Monday after the Supreme Court (SC) denied for the second time her request for additional drugs court in the city.
In her letter to her staff at RTC 9, Avisado said the SC's denial of her request made it impossible for her and her staff to follow the provisions of the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of the Speedy Trial Act of 1998.
Avisado also said the SC had warned her despite her explanation why the RTC 9 court is constrained to set cases filed in 2003 in the court's calendar for 2005.
Avisado said she hopes to bring the plight of RTC 9, which is "prone to harassment by some disgruntled litigants or lawyers", and other trial courts to the attention of the SC as an outsider advocate.
She also said she was sad that the SC has failed to give them the needed relief to solve the problems of RTC 9.
Avisado said RTC 9 had done their best to manage the flow management of their cases by using the First In First Out (FIFO) system that generally, cases are terminated in about two years.
She also added they even conduct trials after 5 p.m., and the staff are overworked to the extent that the court interpreter suffered a heart attack while they were conducting trial, and a court stenographer suffered a stroke while on duty.
Because of lack of funds, they are also constrained to use personal money for office supplies on many occasions.
RTC 9, under Judge Avisado, had been awarded by the SC and the Foundation for Judicial Excellence for Transparency and Advocacy of Judicial Reform in 2001.
In 2002 and 2003, RTC 9 is the only court in the country awarded by the NDEP and the PDEA and the DDB respectively for "speedy disposition of cases and for pro-active stance in the administration of justice".
RTC 9 also received the award as the only court in the Philippines extended a Congressional award through the Oversight Committee on Dangerous Drugs in December last year for their Exemplary performance in applying the Dangerous Drugs Act.
(March 2, 2004 issue)
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