SC reduces tasks of local judges for speedier case handling

Alexander Gesmundo SUPREME COURT PIO

MANILA, Philippines — First- and second-level court judges will soon be relieved of administrative duties, thanks to the Supreme Court’s plan to hire a court manager for every judicial region.

According to the high tribunal, the Office of the Regional Court Manager (ORCM) will have the authority to approve or sign off on administrative and fiscal matters in the judiciary, allowing trial court judges to focus on deciding pending cases.

Court Administrator Raul Villanueva encouraged those interested to consider a career as a regional court manager—a position with a salary grade of 29 (P167,432)—or to hold other positions in the ORCM, which has started its recruitment process for the Ilocos region.

READ: Gesmundo bares Judiciary’s efforts to address slow processes, delays

The call was made in line with the high court’s Strategic Plan for Judicial Innovations 2022-2027 and is part of the modernization program of the Office of the Court Administrator (OCA), an initiative supported by the European Union.

“Through this, we hope to eradicate the administrative delays and inefficiencies that add to the worries and concerns of our trial court judges, who, as it stands, are already saddled with adjudicative work,” Chief Justice Alexander Gesmundo said at the first leg of the caravan that launched the project in San Fernando, La Union province, on April 5.

Only human

The Chief Justice assured court judges that the high court had “heard” their grievances over several concerns, such as delayed and centralized procurement, delayed initial salaries and fund releases, late issuance of travel authorities or pending requests for additional personnel.

Gesmundo said that “no matter how brilliant and steadfast the judges may be in their mission of rendering justice, they are only human and have limited capacities and cannot be expected to properly attend to their main duty of adjudication if their attention is endlessly riddled with administrative concerns.”

READ: Supreme Court reports improved case resolution rate in 2023

At present, the high court noted that administrative processes in the first- and second-level courts are still centralized; all court branches rely on their executive judges and, ultimately, on OCA for official action.

As a former presiding judge in the Metropolitan Trial Court and the Regional Trial Court of Quezon City, Associate Justice Maria Filomena Singh said she understood “how slow administrative court systems exacerbate the judiciary’s perennial problems of clogged court dockets and case delay.”

On top of their central role of adjudicating cases, trial judges were also burdened with administrative tasks that affected the efficiency of the courts, Singh also said at the La Union event.

Decentralizing functions

With the establishment of the ORCM, Senior Associate Justice Marvic Leonen said, a field office or a one-stop shop in every region would be available to serve and support the administrative requirements of the lower courts.

“The goal is to decentralize the functions of the OCA to the regional level and bring the services closer to the stakeholders, both internal and external, and then perhaps from the regional level, sometime in the future, perhaps even to a more local level like multisala courts,” he said.

Leonen said that the Supreme Court had identified six judicial regions as pilot areas of the project: San Fernando, La Union; Angeles City, Pampanga province; Butuan City; Davao City; Metro Cebu; and Ormoc City.

These judicial regions were selected after considering the need to assess the effectiveness of devolving OCA’s services to remote or geographically isolated areas.

Before the rollout, Leonen said the Supreme Court would hold a six-leg caravan in the pilot areas to consult the public, the judges, and court personnel across the country to gain insights while they are still in the initial stages of the project.