As Obo condemns Hall of Justice: Building sought to house courts

CEBU, Philippines - Court officials and the Cebu City government are now scouting for areas that can temporarily house the local courts after the Marcelo Fernan Hall of Justice was declared unsafe.

One possible option is the Cebu Eastern College (CEC) building along D. Jakosalem Street.

Supreme Court administrator Jose Midas Marquez yesterday visited the Hall of Justice at the Capitol Compound to check the damage caused by the  7.2 magnitude earthquake that hit Cebu and Bohol last October 15.

"They need to be transferred…the building is quite dangerous, we cannot risk," Marquez said.

He then met with Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama yesterday afternoon and was briefed on the assessment and recommendations of City Engineer Kenneth Enriquez and city consultant Ariel Dela Cruz, a Structural Engineer, following a thorough inspection of the building.

But before the meeting, Rama, in a press conference, stressed that as the mayor and as a lawyer, he does not feel good seeing the judiciary hold office in tents.

"Being a lawyer, I cannot just allow justice being dispensed from a tent. I cannot allow that. We are a highly urbanized city and we can do better than having the judiciary hold office in tents. There are buildings all over the city that can temporarily house the Palace of Justice," the mayor said.

Executive assistant to the mayor,  Atty. Jade Ponce said the SC official agreed with the findings of the city engineering office and an evacuation plan is now being finalized.

Initially, 10 court personnel, accompanied by City Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office (CDRRMO) personnel, will enter the building to retrieve files and other pertinent office belongings. Also, container vans and warehouses are being looked into to house court archives.

One of the areas being considered to temporarily house the courts, Ponce added, is the CEC Jakosalem campus.

He, however, stressed that Marquez does not represent all the offices that used to occupy the Palace of Justice.

"You must consider that not all Palace occupants are courts. Prosecutors and PAO (Public Attorney's Office) and Probation (Parole and Probation Administration) are under DOJ and not the Supreme Court. They should come together and make a unified decision," Ponce said.

Marquez was accompanied by Regional Trial Court Executive Judge Soliver Peras during his visit to the Palace of Justice, which was declared unsafe by the city's Office of the Building Official last Wednesday.  Court hearings have been suspended since after the October 15 earthquake but a skeletal force has been set up, with the Prosecutor's Office accepting complaints and pleadings in tents outside the building.

Marquez, however, said that long before the earthquake, the Hall of Justice was already scheduled for renovation and a budget was already set aside for it. He said that since the building can no longer be used after the damage that the earthquake caused, there is a need to reassess the expenses for renovation. — /QSB (FREEMAN)