Gesmundo guest of honor at MOPC ‘Judiciary Night’

MANILA, Philippines — The Manila Overseas Press Club (MOPC) holds its traditional “Judiciary Night” on Jan. 27, starting at 5:30 p.m., with Chief Justice Alexander Gesmundo as guest of honor and speaker at the Raffles Hotel ballroom, Makati.

A number of the justices of the 15-member high court are expected to attend and help the Chief Justice answer concerns during the open forum that follows Gesmundo’s policy speech.

MOPC is Asia’s oldest press club, headed by BizNewsAsia publisher and Manila Standard columnist Tony Lopez as chairman and Radio Mindanao Network CEO Eric Canoy as president.

Among its officers and members are owners and senior practitioners of media in the country, including telco giants Globe Telecom and PLDT Smart.

At the forum, Gesmundo is expected to rally the nation and seek support for the judiciary’s long-term reform program, the Strategic Plan for Judicial Innovations (SPJI) 2022-2027, which the Supreme Court (SC) approved on Oct. 14, 2022.

The SPJI  is the most extensive and wide-ranging judicial reform initiated by the Court in the last 125 years.

Reaching the overarching goals of the SPJI will define the Gesmundo court, prove that justice is real, practical and inclusive in the country and invest verity in the notion that life is not just more fun in the Philippines but has transcendental substance as well.

The SC under Gesmundo vows justice that is timely and fair, transparent and accountable, equal and inclusive and tech-savvy.

The SPDI is the high court’s plan of action to address institutional challenges using four guiding principles – timely and fair, transparent and accountable, equal and inclusive and technology adaptive.

Steered by these guiding principles, the Court targets three major outcomes: efficiency, innovation and access.

“Today, a century and about a quarter after its establishment, the Supreme Court opens its doors to take its place at the forefront of life as Filipinos know it. Today, we remove the shroud that has enveloped our officials and systems in a haze of misperceptions and incomprehension, and present to you in clear and indelible terms what we envision, what we have planned and what we target to accomplish for our citizenry, and the methodologies we will adopt to achieve our objectives,” Gesmundo said at the SPJI launch.