Bidding for long-delayed Manila justice hall set next year

Associate Justice Jose Midas Marquez —Photo by Lyn Rillon

MANILA, Philippines — The Supreme Court has approved the design of the long-delayed Manila Hall of Justice and is set to begin the bidding for its construction in the first quarter of next year, according to Associate Justice Jose Midas Marquez.

“The Manila Hall of Justice has long been a planned project,” Marquez said during the Supreme Court’s year-end press briefing earlier this month.

“So finally, we’re beginning to see some movements. In the last en banc session of the Court, the justices just approved the concept design of the new Manila Hall of Justice,” he added.

Marquez said the new Manila Hall of Justice would be situated on the old site of the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) office at the corner of Antonio J. Villegas and Concepcion Aguila streets, across the Bonifacio Monument Park and SM City Manila.

The project was first conceived in 1982 to accommodate over 80 regional trial courts and about 30 first-level courts in the City of Manila. However, it ran into obstacles over the next 42 years.

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Retired Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonio Carpio, incumbent Chief Justice Alexander Gesmundo, and Marquez have been involved, in one way or another, in the decades-long process since the high tribunal acquired the 10,818-square-meter GSIS property in 2012.

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Before that, the hall of justice was supposed to be located on the site of the old Jai Alai Building, on Taft Avenue and Kalaw Street, and the historic art-deco landmark was demolished in 2000 to make way for the project.

Three locations

The Manila Hall of Justice was meant to bring together all the courts in the city that are currently in three locations: Manila City Hall, the Old Ombudsman Building, and the former site of the Jai Alai Building.

In the same briefing, Marquez disclosed that the Department of Transportation (DOTr) had allocated 25 hectares out of the 100 hectares of land donated by San Miguel Corp. (SMC) in Bulacan to the Philippine judiciary.

The Supreme Court intends to develop this area into a judicial complex that will house the high tribunal, Court of Appeals, and Sandiganbayan.

The associate justice noted that SMC, which is currently constructing an airport in Bulacan, has a concession agreement with the government that includes the donation of 100 hectares for a government center.

“Very recently, the DOTr allocated 25 hectares to the Philippine judiciary. The site has already been identified, so most likely, that’s what the judiciary will pursue. We can establish a judicial complex within that 25 hectares, which will include the Supreme Court, Court of Appeals and Sandiganbayan. That’s what we’re looking at now,” Marquez said.