The Office of the Court Administrator celebrated its 35th founding anniversary on November 18 through a simple mass officiated by Rev. Fr. Rany Geraldino, Dioscesan Priest assigned at Manila Cathedral School as Campus minister, at the Old Session Hall, SC Old Building.

Leading the celebrations, Court Administrator Jose Midas P. Marquez exhorted officials and employees of the Office of the Court Administrator to “address the needs of each court for as much as circumstances and resources may permit. We must always be prepared to respond to their requests whenever they knock on the doors of our respective offices.”

Court Administrator Marquez, who also serves as the Court’s spokesperson, also urged the OCA to ensure that judges and court personnel “live up to the standards required of members of the Judiciary” and to “protect them from baseless suits and harassments.” “Let us thus continue to address lower court judges and personnel coming before us with utmost respect at all times, and just allow the system to handle those who may be overbearing,” he said. For his part, he vowed to “work hard for the benefit of our judges and court personel.”

Underscoring the need to introduce improvements, Court Administrator Marquez said it was high time for the OCA “to transcend effectiveness and achieve more progress. Given this, let us prepare for growth and expect a lot of work this coming year.”

Citing thebook Boards that Deliver by Ram Charan which defined governance as one that doesn’t just prevent misdeeds but actually improves the corporation, Court Administrator Marquez said he wants to implement during his term “an administration that goes beyond compliance to one which actually innovate means to improve court administration.” With this, he acknowledged he is blessed to have a corps of effective personnel who have not allowed the insufficiencies of resources to limit their functions.

Created under Presidential Decree No. 828, the OCA reports and recommends to the Court specific actions affecting lower court management, personnel and financial administration, and administrative discipline.