MANILA, Philippines — Newly appointed Chief Justice Diosdado Peralta said he would lead by example as he called on judges as well as justices to speed up the resolution of court cases.
The 67-year-old chief magistrate who has been on the bench for nearly 11 years, also warned judges to expect the Supreme Court to initiate investigations of dubious court decisions.
Peralta laid down his initial plans during the Supreme Court’s flag ceremony on Monday that was also attended by other Supreme Court justices and senior judicial officials including Peralta’s wife, Court of Appeals Associate Justice Fernanda Lampas-Peralta.
On top of his agenda is the elimination of case backlogs in the courts including the Supreme Court, which hears appeals on cases already decided by trial courts and appellate courts after yearslong hearing.
“I have emphasized before that my judicial philosophy has always been to start from home and lead by example,” said Peralta, who has prided himself for having no case backlog due to his speedy disposition of cases.
He said clerks of court of the three Supreme Court divisions would be required to periodically inventory pending cases and report to the court as a whole “how to solve the issue of backlog and other concerns.”
He warned trial court judges to comply with the rules on trial dates and the prescribed period to resolve cases.
The Supreme Court, he added, may initiate on its own the investigation of cases handled by the courts and would soon activate the Judicial Integrity Board to weed out corrupt judges and court personnel.
He promised that administrative complaints would be resolved expeditiously.
He also plans to set up a 24/7 help desk in the Office of the Chief Justice to receive complaints from court users, as well as attend to the concerns of trial judges about infrastructure and supplies as well as security.