With its hands full, the Supreme Court welcomes an extra pair in the appointment of Justice Secretary Alfredo Benjamin Caguioa as its 174th associate justice.
“On behalf of the members of the Court, I welcome Associate Justice Alfredo Benjamin Caguioa,” Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno said in a statement.
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Sereno said she was happy that the high court is now complete with 15 justices.
“I am happy that we are once again a complete court as there is a lot of work to be done which I expect Justice Caguioa to actively take part in,” she said.
The court is also preparing for the expected increase in election-related cases with the upcoming polls in May.
In a 10-page administrative order promulgated on Sept. 24, 2015, the high court designated 112 regional trial courts in 12 judicial regions all over the country to “exclusively and speedily hear, try and decide election protests and petitions for quo warranto (for disqualification) involving elective municipal officials within their respective territorial jurisdictions during local and national elections.”
The SC said the special courts would still be given other cases but excluded from the raffle “whenever the caseloads of these courts will prevent them from conducting the continuous trial of the election contests.”
Designated as lone special election court in the National Capital Region is Pasig City RTC Branch 262.
The order was signed by Sereno, Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio and Associate Justice Presbitero Velasco Jr., the chairpersons of the three divisions of the high tribunal.
Sereno earlier said the high court was working on setting up training programs for the judges who would be manning the election courts.
The SC chief also vowed that the high court would expedite resolution of all pending election cases from the May 2013 polls, including the election protest of former Interior Secretary Mar Roxas against Vice President Jejomar Binay, which remains pending in the Presidential Electoral Tribunal. RC