Although I appreciate the spirit of the “Justice On Wheels” program of the Philippine Supreme Court, which it has been piloting since the term of former Chief Justice Hilario Davide and which incumbent Chief Justice Reynato Puno has continued with dedication, I still believe that the best way to serve and administer justice and promote the rule of law in our country is to insure that the entire Judiciary as an institution effectively performs its mandated regular duties and functions, from top to bottom, such that, at the end of the day, eye-catching de facto and ad hoc projects like the Justice on Wheels program would someday be rendered moot and academic and irrelevant.
The Justice on Wheels program had visited my city (Las Pinas City, Philippines) two years ago, where the top officials of the Court were present, led by Chief Justice Puno, to whom the local officials of the city gave their best support, as led by Mayor Vergel Aguilar, Rep. Cynthia Villar, and Vice Mayor Henry Medina.
I recall this very clearly because the Las Pinas City Bar Association (LPAB), Inc., which I co-founded in 2001 with my law partner Atty. Myrna C. Mercader, was actively involved in the preparations for the activity, in cooperation with the former Executive Judge Leopoldo Baraquia, the incumbent Executive Judge Raul Villanueva, and the Las Pinas City Judges Association led by former Executive Judge Joselito Vibandor.
The heads of the LPBA then were Atty. Purita Fajilan (very active president) and Atty. Antonio Manzano (chairman).
I was the master of ceremonies during the opening ceremonies of the program.
The Court officials present visited the prisoners at the local city jail, met and dialogued with the local court personnel, mingled with the youth at the social services center, and held a seminar for the barangay officials.
The assigned judges and mediators from the city and from the head office of the Court, using the facilities of the mobile court (two buses) settled and terminated more than 50 cases. (I think there are more than 500,000 pending cases in all courts in the Philippines right now).
If the Judiciary as an institution is fully supported by the government in terms of funds, facilities, equipment, training and personnel, ad hoc projects like the Justice on Wheels, which settle only 50 to 100 per municipal or city visit, are not necessary and are superfluous.
At any rate, I am reproducing below, for your reference, an item on the Justice On Wheels program of the Court that appeared in the recent issue of The Starweek Magazine of The Philippine Star, thus:
Justice rolls along... on a bus
By Edu Punay
(The Philippine Star)
Updated January 10, 2010 12:00 AM
MANILA, Philippines - For brothers Maximo and Corcodio Laputan, the journey to justice took only a few hours – aboard a bus.
When the Justice on Wheels (JOW) program of the Supreme Court made a stop in Cebu City in August last year, the two were released from jail after a regional trial court judge reversed their conviction for direct assault of a police officer in Carcar City.
Danilo Flores from Tondo in Manila was detained at the congested Manila City jail for almost a year on charges of threats, concealing deadly weapon and oral defamation. Then a scavenger, he could not afford to hire a private lawyer so he was already expecting to be found guilty in court.
But when the JOW visited Manila city jail in November last year, Flores got another shot at freedom ande was acquitted during a hearing inside the mobile court.
The High Tribunal launched the program in 2004 with the aim of speeding up the resolution of cases and in the process address the perennial criticism of “justice delayed, justice denied,” which stemmed from a serious backlog of court cases.
When visited by The STAR, Supreme Court assistant administrator and vice chair of the Court’s committee on justice Nimfa Vilches said the program started from an official visit of SC officials to Guatemala and a bus donated by the World Bank.
Then Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr. went to Guatemala on an official visit in 2003 and was told about the mobile court system used by the government to bring justice closer to the people and provide people in remote areas adequate and inexpensive access to justice.
On his return to the Philippines, the Chief Justice and the World Bank made possible two study and observation trips in January and May 2004 by SC officials to Guatemala.
In May 2004, a concept paper on the feasibility of establishing mobile courts in the Philippines was submitted to the Court. The following month, the Court launched the Justice on Wheels project, and created an ad hoc Committee with Associate Justice Adolfo Azcuna as chairman.
Six months later, the Court rolled out the first JOW bus on Dec. 20, 2004.
The JOW project aims to literally bring the courts to the people via an air-conditioned bus that houses a small courtroom and offices. It is divided into two main sections: the front section serves as the courtroom, while the rear section serves as the mediation room.
The mobile court is provided with a presiding judge, clerk of court, prosecutor, public attorney, court stenographer, docket clerk, process server, driver, and security guard. Judges are assigned to the mobile court on a rotation basis.
Vilches recalls that the initial months of the JOW were dedicated to resolving criminal cases involving minors in Metro Manila, prioritizing the hearing of cases of those who have been in detention for more than the maximum penalty for their particular cases.
“Detained children were our priority then. The Court really gives special attention to them,” she explains. The initial hearings led to the release of 60 children in a little over a week.
Vilches says operations of the first JOW bus then expanded to cases involving adults, before a second mobile court was rolled out in Oct. 2006.
The second bus, also donated by World Bank, was deployed in Bohol to cover for eight to 12 circuit courts that did not have judges.
A third bus was acquired for deployment in Agusan del Sur in Mindanao in 2007, but the executive judge there expressed concern about the safety of the vehicle so the facility was used for mediating cases. That in the same year, the committee was reorganized and given creative independence.
The JOW enhanced its operations – especially in aiding the SC’s court-annexed mediation program. The chairmanship of the committee on justice was transferred to Associate Justice Consuelo Ynares-Santiago.
The SC looks at places where the number of cases exceeded the judges’ normal case loads, such as Rizal and Bulacan, and taps JOW there, Vilches explains.
“The buses are well-received and well-loved in these communities. The mayors and the people there cry every time we take the buses out to help in other problematic areas,” she reveals.
In the Visayas, the JOW bus was first deployed in Bohol to hear and mediate environmental cases. “The Visayan triangle is renowned the world-over for its rich marine life, which is why it has been suggested to station the said mobile court in Cebu City. We are hoping that the deployment of the third mobile court will serve as an effective deterrent for those who wish to exploit our natural resources in that island,” Vilches says.
In July last year, Chief Justice Reynato Puno led a forum on increasing access to justice where all sectors agreed on the benefits of the JOW program. Inspired by the positive response, the Chief Justice then added programs to the mobile court and renamed it “Enhanced Justice on Wheels (EJOW).”
Vilches says Chief Justice Puno loves attending EJOW activities: “He really loves to walk inside jails and to talk to detainees. We’ve known him as the silent, serious type but in EJOW he really interacts.”
The active participation of the head of the judiciary inspires and motivates members of the EJOW committee.
“We have zero budget. We don’t have appropriation from judicial or government funds. We only rely on organization of community and host cities and municipalities.
Actually, 99 percent of expenses is sponsored by LGUs (local government units),” she shares.
The project has since earned the support of local groups. In fact, a fourth EJOW bus was donated by the Filipino-Chinese Chamber of Commerce while a fifth one by the local government of Saranggani.
Most recently, three more EJOW buses were inaugurated by Chief Justice Puno, bringing the number of EJOW buses to eight.
The City of Manila has donated two container vans which have been converted into courtrooms and mediation rooms.
The new acquisitions reflect both the effectivity of the program as well as the need for more work to be done to continue bringing justice throughout the country.
Vilches says that while the program is enjoying a successful run so far, she believes that the committee must set a boundary system for its future undertakings:
“We will function as long as we are needed; and while we are here to address the immediate needs of the people, we must be careful not to send a wrong signal to the judges. They must continue to hear and decide cases conscientiously and expeditiously and must not wait on the mediators to take over their cases. Our main task is to efficiently redirect the transfer of mediatable cases which have already been filed in court and clog the dockets.”
Considering the number of municipalities without regular courts and the number of detention facilities that are overcrowded, the JOW has demonstrated its usefulness in addressing these problems.
See:
http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=539391&publicationSubCategoryId=90
