THE Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) Davao Chapter is pushing for the establishment of additional regional trial courts in Davao City.
IBP-Davao Chapter president lawyer Rogelio Largo said there are only 14 courts in Davao City. He added these courts cater to a population close to two to three million including the migratory people who come here on regular basis.
Largo said there were three courts recently created in the city, but unfortunately, these three regional trial courts do not have court rooms yet.
"This is one of the advocates of the IBP. Now, why I am saying this is because if we compare Davao City to other urban cities across the country, we suffer in comparison because some cities have over 20 regional trial courts," Largo said.
He also said the courts here are bombarded with various criminal and civil cases. He added that they have a case load of about 1,500 cases per court.
"With the case load our courts have, that essentially delays the process because there is a limit in absorptive capacity of a court," he added.
He also said IBP-Davao is also pushing for the separation of the Court of Appeals and the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC) in Davao City, if not transfer the existing CA in Cagayan de Oro to Davao City.
Largo said that Davao City has more advantage in terms of accessibility by most people whose cases are appealed either at the NLRC or the Court of Appeals.