THE House of Representatives has approved on third and final reading a bill that seeks to provide armed protection to trial judges, amid escalating threats to their personal safety.
House Bill 9086 seeks to establish the Judiciary Marshals Service, which shall operate “as an independent, professional, and organized security force under the direct control and supervision of the Supreme Court.”
“The service may have up to 2,800 marshals, assuming at least one is detailed to every trial judge and every justice,” said Surigao del Sur Rep. Johnny Pimentel, the bill’s principal author, in a press release sent to SunStar Cebu.
Cebu City Regional Trial Court Branch 8 Judge Macaundas Hadjirasul said in an interview on Wednesday, June 9, 2021, that the House’s approval of the bill is one of the best developments that happened for the judiciary amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
“We will no longer need the help of the already overburdened law enforcement agencies for the security of our judges, court personnel and halls of justice, as well as in the performance of the duties of our sheriffs and process servers,” he said.
Hadjirasul, former RTC executive judge, said he hopes the bill becomes a law.
RTC Cebu City Executive Judge Marlon Moneva welcomed the bill, saying RTC judges, for the longest time, have been dreaming of this kind of marshal service and they would no longer depend on the state’s law enforcers for their security.