Strict security measures in place Monday

The “No ID, No Entry” policy shall be strictly implemented at the Palace of Justice in Cebu City starting Monday.

No court employee or visitor shall be allowed to enter the premises of the four-storey building unless they present identification cards to security. Even members of the media and lawyers are not exempt from the security requirement.

Employees will be required to display their ID cards at all times inside the Palace of Justice.

Visitors will also be required to write their names and destination on the security logbook before they are issued Visitor’s Passes which they are required to display while inside the building.

Visitors will also be frisked with their bags subjected to search before they are allowed entry into the Palace of Justice which on Tuesday was the site of a tragic shooting spree that claimed the lives of three people and seriously wounded a public prosecutor.

These measures are spelled out in a memorandum issued yesterday by Regional Trial Court (RTC) Judge Macaundas Hadjirasul, chairperson of the committee on security of the Palace of Justice.

“I intend to strictly implement the memorandum as long as I am here. If we will be complacent, another untoward incident might happen,” Hadjirasul told Cebu Daily News.

Lawyer Democrito Barcenas frowned on the need for lawyers to wear ID cards.

“Wearing of IDs is good for new lawyers. What is the purpose of IDs? We’ve been visiting the Palace of Justice again and again and they still don’t recognize us? It should be made on a case to case basis,” he said.

He said the policy should be studied properly.

Judge Hadjirasul said requiring the display of ID cards will help security personnel monitor the movement of people inside the building.

“IDs are intended to distinguish visitors from employees. In case of crime, authorities would know who to shoot,” Hadjirasul said.

Under the new measures, only the entrance doors in front and at the back of the Palace of Justice shall be opened. The door at the back of the building shall be “for the exclusive use” of judges and court employees.

“All lawyers, litigants, and visitors shall use the entrance infront of the Palace of Justice,” Hadjirasul said.

All other entrance and exits doors like those in the Witness Protection Program office, the Cebu Provincial Prosecutors’ Office, and the Public Attorney’s Office shall be sealed.

Hadjirasul said the windows of all comfort rooms at the ground floor shall be sealed as well.

The judge said no visitor shall be allowed to bring any firearm or deadly weapon inside the Palace of Justice.

Security guards at the entrance door will be required to use metal detector in screening people coming in the building.

Anyone who has no legitimate business with any court or office inside the Palace of Justice shall not be allowed to enter, he said. “No vending, selling, or similar activities with respect to any goods, foods, merchandise or similar items shall be allowed inside the Palace of Justice,” Hadjirasul said.

He said no visitor shall be allowed to enter or stay inside the Palace of Justice beyond 12 noon and 5 p.m. except those who have unfinished transactions at the Office of the Clerk of Court.

Members of the Judicial Security Group are mandated to escort any visitor who will violate the security policies out of the building.

Hadjirasul’s memorandum was approved by Cebu City RTC Executive Judge Silvestre Maamo Jr.

“We will consider the convenience of people without hampering the security policies at the Palace of Justice. Let’s see what will happen in the next few days then we will make some changes if necessary,” Hadjirasul said.

Police challenge

Chief Supt. Marcelo Garbo, chief of police in Central Visayas, favors the arming judges and prosecutors. He said he agrees with the idea as long as judges and prosecutors will comply with all requirements. “Pabor ako diyan as long as legal,” Garbo said.

Garbo said he has already ordered his intelligence officers to find out and identify where John Pope, a retired Canadian journalist who went on a shooting spree at the Palace of Justice last Tuesday, got his guns. “It is a challenge to the police on how John Pope was able to secure guns, this is a challenge to our intelligence officer,” Garbo told reporters. He refused to give a time frame on his directive. “There’s no time frame on intelligence,” said Garbo. /WITH CORRESPONDENT CHITO ARAGON