Many of the ideas presented in the resolutions adopted by the pillars of the justice system of Las Pinas City in 2006 to this day hvae not been acted upon by the concerned local government officials of the city. I wrote the resolutions (and sponsored some of them on the floor) after the bench and bar dialog for the consideration of all parties and entities concerned.
SUMMARY OF RESOLUTIONS ADOPTED DURING THE CLOSING PLENARY SESSION OF THE 2006 BENCH AND BAR DIALOGUE OF LAS PINAS CITY HELD ON NOVEMBER 15, 2006 FROM 8:00 AM TO 5:00 PM AT THE PILAR VILLAGE CLUBHOUSE, LAS PINAS CITY, SPONSORED BY THE LAS PINAS CITY BAR ASSOCIATION, THE INTEGRATED BAR OF THE PHILIPPINES – PASAY PARANAQUE LAS PINAS MUNTINLUPA CHAPTER, AND THE OFFICE OF THE EXECUTIVE JUDGE OF LAS PINAS CITY, IN COOPERATION WITH THE PILLARS OF THE JUSTICE SYSTEM OF LAS PINAS CITY:
- Resolution No. 1. - A resolution requesting the Local Government of Las Pinas City to build a youth home or a youth detention and rehabilitation center for children in conflict with the law (CICL) of Las Pinas City and to appropriate the necessary funds for the purpose to comply with the provisions of P.D. 603, the Local Government Code of 1991, R.A. 9344, R.A. 9262, and other domestic laws and world conventions affecting the youth;
- Resolution No. 2. - A resolution requesting the Las Pinas City Bar Association, the Integrated Bar of the Philippines – Pasay Paranaque Las Pinas Muntinlupa Chapter, and the Office of the Executive Judge of Las Pinas City to design, plan, and hold a special seminar for all the Barangay Chairmen of Las Pinas City sometime in the early part of the First Quarter of 2007 on the salient provisions of R.A. 9344, R.A. 9262 and other recent laws and rules related to the effective exercise by the Barangay Chairmen of their powers and responsibilities as part of the Community Pillar of the Justice System of Las Pinas City, in cooperation with the President of the Association of Barangay Chairmen of Las Pinas City and the Local Government of Las Pinas City;
- Resolution No. 3. – A resolution requesting the Jail Warden of Las Pinas City to provide all the Trial Judges of Las Pinas City with monthly statistical and narrative reports containing all the necessary and updated information on the detention prisoners of the City and on the status of their individual cases, on a per branch basis, to enable the handling Trial Judges to review the same and to take the appropriate judicial actions thereon to promote the speedy administration of justice in the City and help declog the City Jail of Las Pinas City of “overstaying” detention prisoners whose actual detention periods have exceeded the imposable penalties fixed by applicable criminal laws; and to furnish the Las Pinas City Bar Association and the Integrated Bar of the Philippines – Pasay Paranaque Las Pinas Muntinlupa Chapter with copies of such monthly statistical and narrative reports to enable the Local Bar to provide the necessary advice and prompt assistance to the Jail Warden and the Courts on the matters and issues raised therein;
- Resolution No. 4. - A resolution (a) requesting the Jail Warden of Las Pinas City to honor the commitment orders issued by the Inquest Prosecutors of Las Pinas City to insure the immediate transfer of the accused from the PNP interim detention cell of the investigation section of the Police Station of Las Pinas City to the City Jail of Las Pinas City and thus help decongest the PNP interim detention cell, considering that its physical capacity is good only for 20 persons at any one time; (b) requesting the Jail Warden of Las Pinas City to refer the foregoing matter to his regional and national-level superiors, for their ratification; and (b) requesting the Commission on Audit to amend its rules to allow all Jail Wardens in the country to honor the commitment orders issued by Inquest Prosecutors, for purposes of passing in audit the P40.00 daily subsistence allowance of the detention prisoners;
- Resolution No. 5. - A resolution requesting the Clerks of Court of the Regional Trial Court and the Metropolitan Trial Court of Las Pinas City and the City Prosecutor of Las Pinas City to furnish the Executive Judge of Las Pinas City with copies of all Informations filed by the City Prosecutor with the Clerks of Court of Regional Trial Court and the Metropolitan Trial Court of Las Pinas City so that, where warranted, the Executive Judge may immediately issue the necessary commitment orders even prior to the date of the weekly raffle of cases in order to effect the immediate transfer of all accused from the PNP interim detention cell to the City Jail of Las Pinas City, it being the report of the representative of the Jail Warden of Las Pinas City during the Bench and Bar Dialogue that the policy of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology was to strictly comply with the directive of the Commission on Audit not to accept an accused from the PNP interim detention cell into the City Jail without a commitment order issued by the Court (not merely by an Inquest Prosecutor);
- Resolution No. 6. – A resolution requesting the Trial Judges of Las Pinas City, the Chief of Police of Las Pinas City, the Jail Warden of Las Pinas City, the Office of the City Prosecutor, the members of the Bar of Las Pinas City, and the Clerks of Court of Las Pinas City to note and implement the policy statement of the Executive Judge Hon. Joselito DJ Vibandor that for purposes of securing a commitment order to effect the immediate transfer of an accused from the PNP interim detention cell to the City Jail of Las Pinas City any of the following Trial Judges, in the proper order herein indicated, may issue the same: the Trial Judge to whose sala the criminal case was assigned; the Pairing Judge; the Executive Judge; and the most senior Trial Judge of the City;
- Resolution No. 7. - A resolution (a) recommending to the Court Administrator of the Supreme Court to design, print, and issue to all courts in the Philippines sufficient copies of a special color-coded judicial registry return card, as an official Supreme Court form, using the Judicial Development Fund of the Supreme Court to fund the same, which shall contain all the necessary data required to evidence the prompt and effective service by registered mail of court orders, processes and other issuances, considering that the improvised registry return receipts that the courts are now mimeographing or printing, which use ordinary bond papers or even onion skins, are exposed to the dangers of loss, destruction and misplacement, per the views expressed by the representatives of the Post Office of Las Pinas City during the Bench and Bar Dialogue; or, in the alternative, (b) recommending to the Court Administrator of the Supreme Court to negotiate with the Philippine Postal Corporation a Memorandum of Agreement whereby the latter shall print and fund the printing of such a special color-coded judicial registry return card based on the technical and substantive design to be submitted by the Court Administrator of the Supreme Court;
- Resolution No. 7. – A resolution requesting the Post Master of Las Pinas City to instruct his postmen to insure that they request all recipients of registered mails to legibly print on the registry return cards their full names, to legibly sign the same above their printed full names, and to clearly indicate below their printed names and signatures the dates of receipt of registered mails to facilitate the technical task of proving full compliance with the strict provisions of the Rules of Court on proof of service of pleadings, judgments, court orders and processes, and related procedural and evidentiary matters;
- Resolution No. 8. – A resolution requesting the Local Government of Las Pinas City, through the Office of the City Mayor, to adopt a comprehensive plan and census to improve the “house numbering system” of all residential and commercial units in Las Pinas City, in the light of the report of the representatives of the Philippine Postal Corporation during the Bench and Bar Dialogue that one reason for the delay in the service by registered mail of subpoenas and court orders and issuances in Las Pinas City was the defective, inaccurate, inadequate or improper numbering of houses in the City, especially in the depressed areas thereof;
- Resolution No. 9. - A resolution requesting the Sangguniang Panglunsod of Las Pinas City to appropriate funds to provide acceptable sleeping mats to the detention prisoners at the City Jail of Las Pinas City and to the suspects under investigation at the PNP interim detention cell at the Police Station of Las Pinas City, considering that at present they are not provided by the Local Government Unit with sleeping beds;
- Resolution No. 10. – A resolution requesting the Local Government of Las Pinas City and Rep. Cynthia Villar to provide air conditioning units to the administrative offices of the City Jail of Las Pinas City for the convenience of the officers and personnel of the City Jail, the Bar, the Judges, and other national and local officials who visit and inspect the City Jail; and
- Resolution No. 11. – A resolution expressing the gratitude of the pillars of the Justice System of Las Pinas City to the Las Pinas City Bar Association, the Integrated Bar of the Philippines – Pasay Paranaque Las Pinas Muntinlupa Chapter, the Office of the Executive Judge of Las Pinas City, the heads of the pillars of the Justice System of Las Pinas City, and the Office of the Court Administrator of the Supreme Court for the successful and productive conduct of the 2006 Bench and Bar Dialogue of Las Pinas City on November 15, 2006 from 8:00 AM to 5:00PM at the Pilar Village Clubhouse, Las Pinas City.
Las Pinas City, November 16, 2006.
Prepared By:
Atty. MANUEL J. LASERNA JR.
OIC - Overall Open Forum and Integration
Of the Bench and Bar Dialogue
