Last month the Chief Justice, Hon. Reynato Puno, reported on the progress of the Justice of Wheels Project of the Supreme Court, which is especially close to his heart because of the massive effect it creates to give substance to the true meaning and spirit of social justice.
The project is intended “to inject more adrenaline into our jail decongestion program”. In Manila, in one day, 9 inmates were released, while 4 were given medical attention, according to the Chief Justice.
Since then, the Court has brought the Justice on Wheels to Caloocan City, Quezon City, Cebu, Aklan, Davao City, Davao del Sur, Davao del Norte, Cavite, Tacloban/Samar.
Atty. Purita Fajilan, president of the Las Pinas City Bar Association, which I founded in 2001, is now working out with the staff of the Chief Justice to bring the project to our city on November 14, 2008 from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM.
The Chief Justice proudly reports that the Project has released more than 300 inmates. He promises to “bring justice right to the doorsteps of the poor”.
The enhanced program now includes “medical and dental services”. So far, it has given these health services “to more than 2,000 inmates”, he adds.
Likewise, the program now “includes expert lectures from the Philippine Judicial Academy (PhilJA) to barangay officials on their powers and duties under our different laws”, he stated. It now also includes “free legal assistance from the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP)”. On the trestle board is the plan to bring enhanced program “to the indigenous peoples”, he added. The mobile court is now being used for mediation. In Bulacan and Rizal, it has successfully mediated 1,329 cases, out of 1457 cases for a success rate of 85%, he reports.
The Chief Justice stated that the World Bank has just assured the Court that it will add three more buses to the Justice on Wheels Program. The province of Saranggani will handover one bus in November. Another bus is coming from the Filipino-Chinese Federation. The City of Manila, through Mayor Lim, has already converted 2 ten-wheeler trucks into courts, stationed right in front of the City Jail, to facilitate the trial of cases involving detained inmates therein.
The Court has also launched the second project to increase access to justice by the poor through the new Rule of Procedure for Small Claims Cases. The Rule of Procedure for Small Claims Cases “addresses the poor people’s acute need for justice that is faster, more accessible, and less costly”.
The new rule covers only civil cases for sums of money involving not more than P100,000. He added: “Statistics show that most of the poor get involved in civil litigations in amounts no more than P100,000; hence, we targeted these cases. The objectives are clear-cut: resolve the cases of the poor at the quickest time; cut their cost of litigation; and widen their access to courts”.
The strategies are the following, according to the Chief Justice:
(1) establish pilot Small Claims Courts that will exclusively handle these cases; (2) simplify the procedure to govern these cases, so that no litigant will complain of lack of understanding of the process;
(3) limit the participation of lawyers and
encourage the use of mediation, conciliation and other approaches for the amicable settlement of disputes;
(4) transform the role of judges from that of passive referees to interventionist umpires, but without removing their neutrality;
(5) prohibit postponements except once;
(6) decide the case within one day;
(7) make decisions final, but subject to the certiorari jurisdiction of the High Court on the ground of grave abuse of discretion; and
(8) use prepared judicial forms to facilitate the filing of a claim, the filing of an answer, the resolution of motions, and the promulgation of a decision on the case.
Small Claims Courts have been successfully used in other countries like the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Hong Kong, Singapore, in order to help the poor obtain speedy and low cost resolutions of their cases.
He ended his report with the following statements: :”With our Justice on Wheels Program and this new Rule of Procedure for Small Claims Cases, we have shortened the distance between our dream of justice for the poor and the cruel reality on ground. There are more steps to be undertaken by the Supreme Court. Let no one be touched by any doubt on the sincerity of the Court to improve our poor people’s access to justice”.
(See: www.supremecourt.gov.ph, visited October 3, 2008)
