SC Holds Second Leg of Caravan on ORCM Pilot Implementation; Recruitment of ORCM Positions Ongoing
April 15, 2024
Chief Justice Alexander G. Gesmundo and the Associate Justices of the Supreme Court pose for posterity at the second leg of the caravan on the Pilot Implementation of the Office of the Regional Court Manager (ORCM) held at Angeles University Foundation in Angeles City, Pampanga on April 12, 2024. (From left) Associate Justice Maria Filomena D. Singh, Associate Justice Jhosep Y. Lopez, Associate Justice Rodil V. Zalameda, Associate Justice Amy C. Lazaro-Javier, Chief Justice Gesmundo, Associate Justice Ramon Paul L. Hernando, Associate Justice Henri Jean Paul B. Inting, Associate Justice Jose Midas P. Marquez, and Associate Justice Antonio T. Kho, Jr. (Courtesy of the Supreme Court Public Information Office)
“We hope to eradicate the administrative delays and inefficiencies that add to the worries and concerns of our trial court judges, who as it stands, are already saddled with adjudicative work.”
Thus, underscored Chief Justice Alexander G. Gesmundo as he talked of the establishment of the Office of the Regional Court Manager (OCRM), which is the Court’s latest judicial reform project under its Strategic Plan for Judicial Innovations 2022-2027 (SPJI) at the second leg of the caravan on the ORCM’s Pilot Implementation held at Angeles University Foundation in Angeles City, Pampanga on April 12, 2024.
With the ORCM, first- and second-level court judges will be rid of administrative worries and concerns and instead can primarily focus on deciding cases, thus improving court processes and the delivery of justice.
The ORCM shall decentralize and improve the delivery of administrative services to first- and second-level courts by establishing regional offices across judicial regions which will be empowered to directly resolve many of the administrative concerns by the judges. Through the ORCM, the OCA will devolve some of its key functions to the regional court managers, who will be directly communicating with the court branches within its region, and vice-versa. The ORCM will be given the authority to sign off on administrative and fiscal matters, and to deliver multiple services directly to the courts. With the ORCM focusing on the administrative requirements of the trial courts in the region, the OCA will be able to devote more of its time and resources in a macro-level setting, and the trial courts can focus on their adjudicative functions.
Chief Justice Gesmundo stressed that the decentralization of administrative services in the trial courts is aligned with the SPJI, the Court’s blueprint of action for judicial reform, which aims to achieve efficiency, innovation and access in the judiciary.
“Behind the creation of the SPJI is our honest belief that there can be no effective justice unless it is responsive and swiftly delivered. Justice delayed is justice denied as we would often hear. So, in line with this, we undertook a review of the judiciary’s organizational structure to determine the hurdles preventing the courts from achieving the SPJI’s primordial goals,” said the Chief Justice.
Chief Justice Gesmundo reiterated that the new set-up will optimize and harmonize the administrative processes involved, and consequently, ease the administrative workload of the executive judges. It will ensure the high performance not only of the courts but of all the other offices involved. He added that it is through the ORCM that the Judiciary will accelerate and promote the use of technology in the judicial regions, and advocate and champion the awareness, understanding, and implementation of the Court’s reform programs under the SPJI.
The Chief Justice also reiterated that the first- and second-level courts are the judiciary’s frontliners and must be equipped to readily dispense timely and fair justice to those who come before them. He stressed that the trial courts “are the backbone of our judiciary, and providing you the best care and support is long overdue.” He lamented that no matter how brilliant and steadfast the judges may be in their mission of rendering justice, they are only human and have limited capacities and cannot be expected to properly attend to their main duty of adjudication if their attention is endlessly riddled with administrative concerns.
Citing that Region 3, where Angeles City is located, is one of the first two pilot judicial regions where the ORCM project will be implemented, the Chief Justice stressed that the pilot judicial regions “play a vital role in the success of this project, as your contributions and feedback will help us develop and lay the foundation for all of the other judicial regions.”
Associate Justice Maria Filomena D. Singh said that “the ORCM holds immense potential in streamlining court operations, improvement of case disposition, and ultimately, the delivery of real-time and responsive justice to the people we serve.” She stressed that the ORCM is “a significant addition to the remarkable list of SPJI achievements.”
Through the ORCM, the Supreme Court will gradually address the challenges it faces in court administration. The Court is now taking the initial step of decentralizing some of the functions of the OCA by downstreaming them to the Regional Court Managers. As the next phase to decentralization, the Court is already preparing the groundwork to relieve trial judges of their administrative duties and transfer them to professional Court Managers.
Justice Singh encouraged everyone to actively participate and assist in every judicial reform project of the Court, stressing that there is so much work to be done.
For his part, Court Administrator Raul B. Villanueva echoed similar sentiments, saying “it is high time that the judges be rid of unwanted administrative responsibilities to enable them to focus more on their all-important adjudicative work.” He reaffirmed the OCA’s commitment to the Court’s latest judicial reform saying that OCA “has pledged to completely and unconditionally embrace the creation of the ORCMs.”
Furthermore, he renewed his call for everyone to help make the creation of the ORCMs nationwide a resounding success and to consider a career in the ORCM. He added that the recruitment for ORCM positions is ongoing.
Also present were Associate Justice Ramon Paul L. Hernando, Associate Justice Amy C. Lazaro-Javier, Associate Justice Henri Jean Paul B. Inting, Associate Justice Rodil V. Zalameda, Associate Justice Jhosep Y. Lopez, Associate Justice Jose Midas P. Marquez, and Associate Justice Antonio T. Kho, Jr.
The participants of the caravan, who are judges and clerks of court from the 3rd Judicial Region, specifically came from Bataan, Bulacan, Nueva Ecija, Pampanga, Tarlac, Zambales, Angeles, Cabanatuan, Olongapo, Palayan and San Jose.
Similar to the caravan in La Union, there was also a presentation of the current and proposed processes of the ORCM, followed by group and plenary discussions.
The ORCM project is supported by the Court’s development partner, the European Union-GOJUST II.
After Angeles City, Pampanga and San Fernando, La Union, the other legs of the caravan will be held in Butuan City (April 19), Davao City (April 26), Metro Cebu (May 10), and Ormoc City (May 24) where the pilot testing of the ORCM shall be launched in the 7th, 8th, 10th and 11th Judicial Regions. (Courtesy of the Supreme Court Public Information Office)
Chief Justice Alexander G. Gesmundo stresses that the decentralization of administrative services, through the Office of the Regional Court Manager, is aligned with the Strategic Plan for Judicial Innovations 2022-2027 (SPJI) at the second leg of the caravan on the ORCM’s Pilot Implementation held at Angeles University Foundation in Angeles City, Pampanga on April 12, 2024. (Courtesy of the Supreme Court Public Information Office)
Supreme Court Associate Justice Maria Filomena D. Singh says that Office of the Regional Court Manager (ORCM) “a significant addition to the remarkable list of [Strategic Plan for Judicial Innovations 2022-2027] SPJI achievements” at the second leg of the caravan on the ORCM’s Pilot Implementation held at Angeles University Foundation in Angeles City, Pampanga on April 12, 2024. (Courtesy of the Supreme Court Public Information Office)
Court Administrator Raul B. Villanueva renews call for everyone to help make the creation of the Office of the Regional Court Manager (ORCM) nationwide a resounding success and to consider a career in the ORCM at the second leg of the caravan on the ORCM’s Pilot Implementation held at Angeles University Foundation in Angeles City, Pampanga on April 12, 2024. (Courtesy of the Supreme Court Public Information Office)
Judges from the 3rd Judicial Region—Bataan, Bulacan, Nueva Ecija, Pampanga, Tarlac, Zambales, Angeles, Cabanatuan, Olongapo, Palayan and San Jose—join the second leg of the caravan of the Pilot Implementation of the Office of the Regional Court Manager (ORCM) held at Angeles University Foundation in Angeles City, Pampanga on April 12, 2024. (Courtesy of the Supreme Court Public Information Office)
Other photos for the second leg of the caravan on the Pilot Implementation of the Office of the Regional Court Manager (ORCM) held at Angeles University Foundation in Angeles City, Pampanga on April 12, 2024. (Courtesy of the Supreme Court Public Information Office)