Cebu City courts face 10-T case backlog

ABOUT 10,351 cases filed in 22 branches of the Regional Trial Court (RTC) in Cebu City have been gathering dust since the start of this year.

Some of these cases have been pending for over four years which runs counter to a law that requires the resolution of cases within 180 cases or six months after they were filed.

But the huge backlog of cases doesn’t mean an ineffective justice system, RTC Judge Meinrado Paredes told Cebu Daily News.

He said cases remain unresolved due to the unavailability of witnesses and the delaying tactics of lawyers.

They also have a shortage of personnel to handle the filing and processing of papers for the cases, he said.

The Integrated Bar of the Philippines Cebu City chapter said more judges are needed to fill up two of the 22 court branches.

“(The number of unresolved cases) could be due to over-clogging of our court dockets brought about by lack of judges vis-a-vis the huge number of cases being filed in court,” IBP-Cebu chapter president Earl Bonachita said.

Based on a report released by the Cebu City RTC, the bulk of unresolved cases  involved criminal cases with 12,240 followed by civil cases with 3,772, special proceedings with 1,311 and land disputes with 335 cases.

Special civil action cases number 280 while other  cases are pegged at 244.  The figures were based on the inventory of court cases held at the start and middle of this year.

In January 2011, about 10,029 cases were pending with the Cebu City RTC.

Of that number 5,780 were disposed by different courts.  However, 5,897 cases were also filed over the same time.

In a criminal case, the courts are required to render judgment 90 days after a  case is submitted for decision.

They will also terminate a criminal case 180 days after it was filed under the Republic Act 8493 or the Speedy Trial Act of 1998.

“The High Court hasn’t been strict with this since it understood the predicaments of lower courts,” Paredes said.  Two of the 22 RTC branches in Cebu City have no presiding judges.

RTC Branch 58 was formerly presided by now Court of Appeals Associate Justice Gabriel Ingles.

Branch 9 used to be supervised by current SC Judicial Reform Program Administrator Geraldine Faith Econg. Acting judges were designated in these two branches.  Ingles earlier said even the lack of prosecutors caused the delays in the disposition of cases.

Conflicts in trial schedules of private lawyers and prosecutors also caused delays in court proceedings, he said.

He said the SC or the parties involved can file an administrative charge against the concerned presiding judge if he or she fails to resolve a case on time.

RTC Judge Samuel Malazarte of Branch 22 has the most pending cases at 860, followed by Judge Wilfredo Navarro of Branch 19 with 775 and Judge Douglas Marigomen of Branch 5 with 702. Judge Ramon Daomilas of Branch 11 has the least number of pending cases with 185.  Reporter Ador Vincent Mayol