CHIEF JUSTICE Maria Lourdes P.A. Sereno assured that “[a]ppropriate advice and instructions to all the relevant court employees, litigants and counsels, will be timely issued” in light of a fire that “completely gutted” the Cagayan de Oro City Hall of Justice over the weekend.
Three court officials from Manila — Court Administrator Jose Midas P. Marquez, Deputy Court Administrator Jenny Lind R. Aldecoa-Delorino and Ms. Sereno’s Chief-of-Staff Honey Oliveros — will visit the razed building and meet with all judges on Monday, she said.
In a rare media statement on Saturday evening, Ms. Sereno also sought encouragement for the local members of the Judiciary, as she noted that the fire will inevitably lead to delays in judicial proceedings, especially for prominent cases in Northern Mindanao.
“The loss of momentum in resolving all the cases before CDO courts is deeply disconcerting to the Judiciary, especially in light of recent headways in resolving case delays. CDO has even been recently discussed as a possible site for launching a justice zone,” the chief magistrate said. “For the parties and counsels, I ask for patience while the courts cannot yet operate. I also ask for your support for the steps that need to be taken after we have relocated our courts. Kindly be ready to share your files so that reconstruction of judicial records can proceed speedily.”
The city’s courts are currently hearing the cases of the attempted slay try on Iligan City Rep. Vicente F. Belmonte, Jr., the Aman Futures scam, the Rasuman pyramid scam, and the summary killings of Harold and Ronald Jamaca, and Maria Erica Yabut.
Ms. Sereno also expressed condolences for the families of two workers, utility worker Jepry Uban and security guard Benjamin Buna, who died in the fire that consumed the building on Friday evening.
Flags in halls of justice nationwide will continue to be lowered at half-mast for the two victims. The Supreme Court had ordered the flags lowered starting Friday, in mourning the deaths of 44 elite force policemen in the Jan. 25 clash in Mamasapano, Maguindanao. Almost 20 members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) — which has agreed to lay down their arms as part of a peace pact with the government — also died in the encounter.
Local reports said that the fire, unusually marked by explosions that were caused by grenades and ammunition presented as evidence, burned down the entire Hall of Justice. Trial court branches 40 and 41 were reportedly spared because they were located in a separate building.
The local Bureau of Fire Protection had cordoned the area off to preserve evidence, including firearms that do not melt, while investigation is ongoing.
Ms. Sereno compared the effects of the fire to the destruction of courts in Tacloban City, which was leveled by super-typhoon Yolanda in 2013. As a result, she renewed her call for the country’s court systems to be automated.
“Many pieces of evidence are completely lost. This fact makes more urgent the need to fully automate the court systems nationwide. The budget proposal that we will be submitting to Congress will include an item for digitization, on phased basis, of present case files,” Ms. Sereno said. “This is a deeper step in automation, than our present plans and funds allow. It also makes it imperative that a more secure and scientific system of preserving evidence be devised.”
For his part, Senate justice committee chairperson Senator Aquilino “Koko” D.L. Pimentel III said that investigators should focus on the angle of arson.
Mr. Pimentel, a native of Cagayan de Oro City, disclosed that “initial reports indicate that certain influential parties to cases pending in one of the courts holding sessions there had been allegedly tagged as suspects.” — Vince Alvic Alexis F. Nonato
Source: https://www.bworldonline.com/content.php?section=Nation&title=chief-justice-offers-assurance-after-fire-destroys-cdo-courts&id=101924
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