DOJ needs around 1,000 more prosecutors

MANILA, Philippines—  The Department of Justice (DOJ) still needs around a thousand prosecutors to be posted around the country, Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said.

“We need something like a thousand more,” Guevarra told reporters.

He said DOJ had been continuously screening applications and had about 500 nominations already sent to the Office of the President.

“We are just waiting for the President’s signature,” Guevarra said in Filipino.

But he said Malacañang was slowly releasing the appointments of new prosecutors.

“So I hope that more will be coming,” Guevarra said.

Meanwhile, Prosecutor General Benedicto Malcontento said they were planning to first start filling up places that badly needed prosecutors. These areas, he said have a “very disproportionate” ratio between prosecutors in courts citing as an example the six prosecutors in Region 6 handling cases in 41 courts.

“It is spread all over the country with one prosecutor serving more than two, three courts,” he said.

/atm