Puno to launch Reg’l Court Admin Office

Chief Justice Reynato Puno will arrive in Cebu City tomorrow to personally launch the newly created Regional Court Administrators Office in Central Visayas that would be based in Lapu-Lapu City.

Puno will formally install Judge Cresencio Rafael Tan, Jr. of the Dumaguete City Regional Trial Court as the first Regional Court Administrator for Central Visayas whose task is to assist the judges of their administrative needs.

The event will be conducted at the Waterfront Cebu City Hotel and Casino starting at 10 a.m.

Lawyer Rully Garcia, the one who heads the investigating team who conducted investigation into some anomalous activities of some judges in Cebu City, was named deputy court administrator.

Other RCA officials are Rosemarie Pabatao, RCA for budgeting; Catherine Bagano, assistant RCA for financial accounting and disbursement; Isidro Bongcayao, Jr., assistant RCA for general services; Denis Pacas, assistant RCA for human resources development; and Ceferino Faunillan, Jr., assistant RCA for revenue management.

The Regional Court Administrator’s Office, which will be based at the Lapu-Lapu Hall of Justice, aims to decentralize the functions of the Office of the Court Administrator to facilitate judicial operations in major regions of the country.

The Office of the Court Administrator, which was created by virtue of Presidential Decree 828 (as amended by PD 842), exercises direct supervision over the first-level and second-level courts.

It plays a very vital role in strengthening the link between higher and lower courts for more efficient service to the citizenry.

Many lawyers welcomed the creation of the RCAO in Central Visayas so it would be easy for them to file their documents for the Court Administrator without going to Manila – Rene U. Borromeo/LPM