SC bares basic principles of 5-yr. Strategic Plan for Judicial Innovations IN BRIEF

BI flags Taiwan-bound woman with dubious documents

THE Bureau of Immigration (BI) hogged the limelight anew on social media after a female passenger was allegedly required to present 10 birth certificates by an Immigration officer. According to BI Commissioner Norman Tansingco, while they have yet to receive the full report and investigation, initial information shows that the unnamed passenger’s travel was deferred for having multiple red flags.

It will be recalled that last March, a passenger missed her international flight after an Immigration officer asked a female passenger if she had a yearbook or a photo to prove she had graduated from college. As a result of the mess, she missed her flight.

In the latest controversy, the traveler, also a female, was not allowed to board her plane due to issues about her travel documents. She was to travel to Taiwan ostensibly to visit a distant relative.

However, the Immigration officer noted that during the assessment, there was mention of possible work in Taiwan. The woman was also unable to establish her relationship with her sponsor, and had numerous inconsistencies when asked about basic details on her sponsor.Vito

Barcelo

Lawmaker eyes passage of anti-hunger measure

REP. Ray Reyes of AnaKalusugan party-list on Monday pushed for the passage of House Bill 2189, or the Zero Hunger bill, to ensure food security and wipe out hunger in the country.

Reyes, vice chair of the House Committee on Health, made the statement as the country commemorates National Nutrition Month, noting that “malnutrition remains a serious problem in our country and it is our duty to address, not just hunger incidence, but also the lack of healthy food available to all at a fair price point.”

“AnaKalusugan party-list joins the nation in celebrating National Nutrition Month and remains committed to advance legislation to eliminate hunger and make affordable healthy food accessible to all Filipinos,” Reyes said.

He said the bill aims to eradicate hunger by 2030 and calls for the creation of the Commission on the Right to Adequate Food, which will be the primary policy-making and coordinating body of all efforts towards addressing hunger and other issues.Maricel V. Cruz

No reason to defer BSKE in Negros Or.—Abalos

INTERIOR and Local Government Secretary

Benjamin Abalos Jr. on Monday said he saw no reason to postpone the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (BSKE) elections in Negros Oriental following his visit to the province over the weekend.

Abalos said the province has been relatively peaceful four months after the killing of Gov. Roel Degamo, citing comparative data presented to him by the local police.

“The police compared the province’s crime rate now and last year. Negros Oriental has been quiet, except for that one incident... but if you look at the bigger picture, it’s really quiet,” Abalos said. He also told local officials in Negros Oriental to focus on the province’s economic recovery, noting an apparent influx of tourists since the Degamo slay. “Ang importante rito ay bumangon economically ang Negros Oriental. Nagulat nga ako dumami ang mga turista eh.... Nakita ko iyong eroplanong nakasabay ko, madami-dami na rin iyong turista eh.” he said.

Abalos also said that during his visit to Negros Oriental, he personally witnessed the change of leadership of the provincial police as Col. Ronan Claravall succeeded outgoing director Col. Alex Recinto.

THE Supreme Court (SC) has set four guiding principles embodied in its five-year Strategic Plan for Judicial Innovations (SPJI) for implementation until 2027. These are timely and fair delivery of justice, transparency and accountability, equality and inclusion, and adaptability to technology.

Execution of the SPJI was seen to have gained added dimensions with the High Tribunal’s observance of its 122nd founding anniversary on June 11, 2023

If fully implemented, the SC “will surely achieve its three target outcomes -- efficiency, innovation and access.”

“To achieve efficiency, the SC shall implement a thorough organizational review and restructuring in the judiciary.”

It also includes the establishment of programs on enhancing the physical and well-being of all court officials and employees and reinforce ethical responsibility.

The SPJI underscores that innovation would include introduction of new paradigms and concepts, like the firstever regionalized and digitalized conduct of the bar examinations during the coronavirus pandemic and the bench books on family courts and commercial courts.

To achieve access, the SC has continued its efforts to bring judicial services closer to the public.

Justices zones were created in many urban cities in Metro Manila, Davao Region, Western Visayas, Central Luzon and Calabarzon.

The SC has implemented a program of active coordination among the prosecution, the courts and the corrections system, in order to ensure a faster disposition of cases.

Also, the SC has permitted the conduct of virtual conferencing of hearings of criminal cases to lessen congestion of cases in several courts.

In a report from the Office of the Court Administrator (OCA), it said that during the Covid-19 pandemic, some 27,000 courts in the country have conducted an estimated 170,000 hearings via teleconferencing.

The OCA further reported that through virtual hearings, around 81,000 persons deprived of liberty (PDL) were released from incarceration.

Electronic filing of complaints and petition for bail; e-payments of fees were permitted to speed up resolutions of pending cases which resulted to access to judicial processes.

In the SPJI, the use and adaption of digital transformation is considered a factor in the target result of the stra- tegic innovations by the highest court of the land.

The creation and development of a digital platform is envisioned to enable judges and court clerks to conduct research on a computerized database. Likewise, a creation of a public information will surely enhance the public access to publication of cases in the court system. In conclusion, the SPJI was launched to realize the goal of rendering equal access to justice in real time with efficiency and access to fair disposition of justice to all.

In the words of Chief Justice Alexander Gesmundo, the realization of the objectives of the SPJI is imperative in ensuring the attainment of the goal to “remold and transform the courts into consistently efficient and accountable havens for the disadvantaged, the wronged, and the injured.”