Chief Justice Alexander G. Gesmundo today spearheaded the launch of the Balanga City Justice Zone at the “The Bunker,” the Bataan Government Center and Business Hub, Capitol Compound, Balanga City, Bataan.
The Balanga City Justice Zone is the first Justice Zone to be unveiled during the term of Chief Justice Gesmundo and the eighth in the country. It is also the second to be launched during a pandemic, following that in Calamba City. The six other Justice Zones are in Quezon City, Cebu City, Davao City, Angeles City, Bacolod City, and Naga City.
Justice Secretary Menardo I. Guevarra and Interior Secretary Eduardo M. Año, the two other principals of the Justice Sector Coordinating Council (JSCC), were also in attendance. The JSCC is composed of the Supreme Court, the Department of Justice (DOJ), and the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG).
According to the Chief Justice, the Justice Zone, which is the showcase program of the JSCC, “is an area where key programs relating to the delivery of justice are in place to maximize coordination among the different agency actors to address the perennial issue of delay and the greater problem of accountability.” He added: “Conceptually, a Justice Zone is the gold standard in the delivery of justice because justice is served real time, when the people actually need it.”
The Justice Zone Project is both a venue and a mechanism for communication, principled cooperation, and studied coordination with great deference to institutional independence. Through the JSCC, the coordinated or sector approach to delivering justice is the chosen platform to achieve real time satisfaction of justice needs. Each agency continues to pursue its stand-alone programs and activities, while at the same time, for activities that require the involvement of two or more agencies. The Justice Zone project adheres to its objective of a swift and fair administration of the criminal justice system. It is established to strengthen the coordination and communication between the Supreme Court, DOJ, and DILG.
Chief Justice Gesmundo said that the Supreme Court, “motivated for a good part by the lessons learned from the pandemic,” is embarking on a digitization campaign that will see both its adjudicative and administrative processes running on an online platform. “The Court acknowledges that technology is the highway to the future. We are now building up our ICT Governance and Management Framework which will cover our policies, processes, information flow, organizational structures, people skills and competencies, culture, ethics and behavior, services and applications,” he said.
In closing, the Chief Justice urged everyone to help and support the JSCC in attaining “our goal of achieving efficiency and accountability in the delivery of justice through our sector or coordinated approach,” to
regain the trust and confidence of the public and to assure a strong and stable rule of law in the country.
Parallel to this program, the JSCC umbrella has embarked on the National Justice Information System, which is envisioned to open the lines of communication digitally among the justice sector actors as information sharing will be prioritized, subject to restrictions born of confidentiality and other legal and ethical requirements.
The Balanga City Justice Zone Project is supported by the JSCC and the Bataan provincial and Balanga city local government.
The JSCC principals – Chief Justice Gesmundo, Secretary Guevarra, and Secretary Año – together with Balanga City Mayor Francis Anthony S. Garcia, Bataan Governor Albert S. Garcia, and Regional Trial Court Executive Judge Marion Jacqueline P. Poblete all committed “to support the JSCC, the Balanga City Justice Zone, and its efforts to improve communication, cooperation and coordination among local justice sector actors” by signing the “Wall of Commitment.”
Present during the launch were Supreme Court Justice Jose Midas P. Marquez, Court of Appeals Justice Maria Filomena D. Singh, Chairperson of the JSCC TWG on Processes and Capacity Building, Officer-in-Charge (OIC) Justice Undersecretary Nicolas Felix L. Ty, Interior Assistant Secretary for Plans and Programs Francisco R. Cruz, 2nd District Bataan Rep. Jose Enrique S. Garcia III, Deputy Court Administrator Jenny Lind A. Delorino, Assistant Court Administrator and Supreme Court Spokesperson Brian Keith F. Hosaka, Deputy Clerk of Court and Judicial Reform Program Administrator Laura C.H. Del Rosario, Balanga City judges, prosecutors in Bataan led by OIC Bataan Provincial Prosecutor Mary Jane W. Sytat and Balanga City Prosecutor Oscar M. Lasam, and representatives from the District Public Attorney’s Office, the Philippine National Police-Bataan, and Integrated Bar of the Philippines-Bataan Chapter.
Also in attendance were CA Justices Jennifer Joy C. Ong, Michael P. Ong, and Jose Lorenzo dela Rosa.