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Speech delivered by Chief Justice Maria Lourdes P. A. Sereno during the launch of the Justice Sector Reform Programme: Governance in Justice (GOJUST Programme) on February 23, 2017 at the Manila Hotel

Thank you very much, friends. Please let’s all relax after those elevating

speeches — from [European Union Ambassador Franz] Jessen, that spiritual-

themed speech from [Justice] Secretary [Vitaliano “Vit”] Aguirre [II], and that

down to the grassroots level speech of [Interior and Local Government]

Secretary [Ismael “Mike” Dres] Sueno — it would be difficult to top off any of

those speeches but that is far from my intention. My intention rather is to try

to cap today’s ceremony by looking at why we have come together and try to

assure everyone that we are going to move further ahead. So allow me again

to not only acknowledge his Excellency Franz Jessen representing the entire

European Union, which of course Mr. Ambassador we look to examples from

the Union itself on how it has approached justice sector problems. And we

take a lot of encouragement from what we have seen so far.

And allow me to also acknowledge his Excellency Luis Antonio Calvo

[Castaño, Ambassador of Spain to the Philippines], who, on behalf of the

Spanish government, has been focusing not only on human rights but also on

trying to find out in what way the relationship between the legal sector of the

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Philippines and that of Spain can be further encouraged. And I thank you for

all your encouragements to us.

Of course Secretary “Vit” [Aguirre] has so much on his plate and I thank

him for spending time with us this morning, and I am encouraged by his

whole-hearted commitment to continue the advocacies that we have started

in the Justice Sector [Coordinating Council (JSCC)]. And Secretary “Mike”

[Sueno] continues to open our eyes in this Council to the problems that they

have on the ground as he acknowledges that the source of the river in fact

must start from correct law enforcement strategies and personnel. Of course I

have to thank the representative of the House of Representatives here,

Congressman [Reynaldo V.] Umali [2nd District, Oriental Mindoro], who is the

Chairperson of the Justice Committee of the House.

My colleagues, and I am very proud to call on them now, and I would

like them to stand because I want this occasion to be one where we

acknowledge the work of my very esteemed colleagues. Let’s first start with

Associate Justice Teresita [J. Leonardo-] De Castro. Justice De Castro heads our

[Committee on Family Courts and Juvenile Concerns and the Committee on

Gender Responsiveness] and right now they are at the forefront of the

regional developments in these areas, and they are now being commended for

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even developing materials that will help Family Courts, and they are in the

process of looking at how to make Family Courts’ processes even more

effective.

I’d also like to acknowledge Associate Justice Diosdado [M.] Peralta,

please; you know you have to admire the energy of this man. He not only

heads the Speedy Trial Committee, but also the related Committee on

Continuous Trial, and he keeps on going around the country training our

judges on how we can speed up trial faster.

And I would like to even preliminarily report to everyone that [Socio-

Economic Planning] Secretary [Ernesto M.] Pernia, I think you already had the

sneak preview to this data, but the Continuous Trial System that we have

already piloted shows that it is possible to cut down the trial disposition

according to the Speedy Trial Act to a very high percentage of compliance. And

in fact the Piloted Guidelines in Quezon City has cut down the trial time for civil

cases by more than two-thirds. So these individual efforts are beginning to

blossom.

And of course, I’d also like to introduce to everyone Associate Justice

Mariano Del Castillo. Secretary “Mike” [Sueno], he can be your partner on

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grassroots reach because as we have already explained to you our Expanded

Justice on Wheels Program (EJOW Program), which he chairs — goes to far-

flung areas to expedite the resolution of cases, and they conduct hearings in

the buses which are fitted to really undertake two kinds of activities: one is

trial inside an air-conditioned bus, and the other half of the bus is also set

aside for mediation. And this two-pronged approach has resulted in the

disposition of thousands of cases all over the country, and the immediate

release of detention prisoners for one justifiable reason or another. At the

same time, the Supreme Court in coordination with local judges and local

organizations conduct medical and dental aid for prisoners. So they

coordinate with your BJMP (Bureau of Jail Management and Penology)

wherever they go. And then they [also] bring along a team of lecturers from

PHILJA (Philippine Judicial Academy). So while the medical and dental aid is

being conducted by one team, another team is conducting lectures for

barangay officers in the locality where this is happening teaching them about

Law 101, their basic rights, how to handle family disputes, etc. So this

concerted team effort is also the same kind of strategy that we are pursuing in

the JSCC. And I like the fact that Ambassador, if you and your predecessor

might have exchanged notes together with the technical team, but I remember

that one of EU’s most pressing concern then was how to support reform of the

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justice sector. And we have found a common strategy, and this was fully

supported and I thank Secretary Pernia today. I’d like to thank him for

listening to the approach that we were proposing which is a justice sector

wide budgetary support principally through the Philippine Development Plan

(PDP), which had been signed by the President a few days ago. And if I may

repeat your words Mr. Secretary, you said that the swift and fair

administration of justice is one of the best chapters in the present Philippine

Development Plan which will run until 2022. So allow me to develop my

theme of sectoral accountability. I did not know that you were going to be

here but I had wanted really to talk to you about the fact that what we had

achieved in that chapter is basically pushing forward the concept of sectoral

accountability. If the EU had been very keen on providing sectoral support,

while we understand that ultimately it must be a responsibility of the national

and local governments eventually for the upkeep of the justice sector,

specially the criminal justice sector, it must be seen as a development plan

that is sectoral in nature, that is why all the support that must be given it

should also have an element of sectoral accountability. That is why I thank

Secretary Sueno and Secretary “Vit” [Aguirre] for continuing to commit to the

shared goals that we had already reached several meetings ago when we had

been meeting prior to this launch, and where we had basically committed to

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creating a common database so that we can have a common index for

measuring crime incidents, resolution of crimes, what is the standard for filing

of cases, and what do you call as success rates. And how do you measure our

performance as a sector together because if one of us fails, the entire sector

fails. I think our people are not going to be patient enough to try to find out

which particular sector is weak. I think our people will really demand that all

the sectors perform credibly and well. It’s not only the source but every

tributary must be guarded so that the river of justice indeed flows swiftly,

flows cleanly and smoothly.

So I think that the presence of Congressman Umali here speaks of the

fact that he understands as he and I, together with Senator [Richard J.] Gordon

[chairman of the Senate Committee on Justice and Human Rights], have been

exchanging notes all the time about the legislative agenda that must be carried

in order to bring justice sector reform. And I thank him that he is willing to

spend time going all the way from Quezon City to join us here. And he has,

together with Senator Gordon, openly committed to support through their

committee leaderships what is necessary for justice sector reform to truly

come about.

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So now allow me to just tell you certain points, and I hope to keep this

really very short. We marked the culmination of the EPJUST II Programme

(European Union-Philippines Justice Support Programme) in Ortigas, and we

acknowledged that the predecessor Programme had been a success but we

needed to build on those successes. And we have stayed true to our collective

commitment, which is attested by our presence today, and we understand that

it is structural reforms, systems reforms that must be pursued not only by the

three agencies but all future partners that we will have with us.

So the GOJUST Programme aims to complement whatever mechanisms

are there for broader reforms by adopting a similar strategic approach that is

providing support not only for joint activities but also for sector-specific

activities, such as I was telling Secretary “Mike” Sueno, you may want to add

more to your wish list of activities that might be specific to the DILG

[Department of Interior and Local Government] which will be in line with the

overall objectives of the GOJUST Programme. And therefore we have outlined

the series of activities and strategies for implementation. And allow me

therefore to focus on the three key result areas. And I think that when

Secretary Sueno, Secretary Aguirre, and of course the Court had said that we

are open to technical assistance in our respective areas, we are very well-

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aware that what our development partner was looking at and we accepted it,

is the sector-wide coordination of the justice system and the development of a

long-term reform strategy. That is why our reform champions in the Court

have been meeting not only with the Justices but also with prosecutors. Justice

Peralta, I think you have meeting in your Speedy Trial [Committee] with some

prosecutors; Justice “Tess” [De Castro] has also been meeting with

prosecutors specially when it comes to child trafficking cases; and of course it

is inevitable that Justice Del Castillo is also meeting with our counterparts in

the other justice sectors whenever he goes to a locality. This graphically

illustrates to you the fact that we in the Supreme Court, while we try to

insulate ourselves keeping in line with our constitutional duty to be free and

independent from any external influence in our adjudicative processes, we are

reaching out to our partners in all the other sectors to ensure fast processes

and procedures. So that we have result area number one, which is

coordination of the justice system and the development of a long-term reform

strategy; the curtailment of backlog in courts and prosecutions services,

which Secretary “Vit” [Aguirre] just committed [to] today — that you will see

that the backlogs in the DOJ will be gone; and the streamlining and

computerization of case management systems; and the improvement of the

administrative and financial management systems in all our agencies.

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The first result area is crucial in that it creates incentives in the

environment for the agencies of the justice sector to work together more

effectively. This coordinative mechanism is the strategic overlay that will

provide cohesion among the other result areas. It will involve that the Justice

Sector Coordinating Council continues to meet, institutionalized, and we

continue to talk about our common concerns. And allow me therefore to talk

about some successes such as the eSubpoena, which was conceptualized under

the JSCC. In the eSubpoena, we were able to prevent substantive delays in

trials and court processes when we devised the system by sending electronic

subpoenas directly to the central server of the PNP (Philippine National

Police), and of course the PNP committed that those police witnesses who do

not appear for trial will be administratively sanctioned, and it has created a

high effectivity in the attendance rate of police witnesses so that where the

eSubpoena is deployed, we no longer have the problem of absentee police

witnesses — we have solved one problem.

The other program was the eDalaw System. The BJMP allows inmates in

Quezon City to be visited through video conferencing through the internet. So

through the JSCC, the DILG allowed not only the relatives of inmates to talk

with them through the internet but also the PAO (Public Attorney’s Office), an

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attached agency of the DOJ, was able to make use of the eDalaw System. So we

can replicate these systems wherever we have Justice Zones. And then

through the Justice Zone project, we also have capacity-building initiatives

largely under the leadership of the Philippine Judicial Academy. And when it

comes to joint trainings on forensics, we have enjoyed the hospitality of the

Philippine National Police. So we have had joint trainings on judicial affidavits,

protocols for case management of victims of child abuse and exploitation,

evidence management, criminal investigation forensics, and anti-illegal drugs

issues, just to name a few.

Because of these successes we were able to measure the reduction in

the length of time taken up by court procedures; thus, the need to further

reinforce the Council. So the GOJUST Programme will prepare a blueprint for

the overall process and interlinkages of the JSCC. As you know, in the Justice

Zone concept, we have already outline 88 activity points, and we have already

all identified the areas where we need to really coordinate and where we need

to measure performance.

With respect to the development of a long-term strategic plan, we will

have the opportunity to facilitate this when the Philippine Development Plan

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which was just signed, created a new sector for the fair and swift

administration of justice.

And through the GOJUST Programme, we will find out further if we can

establish additional Justice Zones in two new areas within one year of our

launching. So I think Secretary Sueno, Secretary Aguirre, and the judiciary will

have to take closely at whether we can match the expectations of us by our

development partners.

We now can also create checklists, and this is something that Secretary

Sueno and I have been discussing closely, for improved case management for

the police. For example, a checklist when they are handling illegal drugs cases;

with respect to the team of Secretary Aguirre also indicated the need for a

checklist for your prosecutors, and among other criminal cases, and the

development of standards and operational procedures for the eDalaw System.

Secretary “Vit” [Aguirre], the PNP had actually committed that for 2016,

they can actually be in the position to implement the eSubpoena System in the

entire NCR (National Capital Region). We hope that the PNP will really say

that they are now operationally ready because the moment we receive that

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information, then the court will respond so that we can bring the benefits of

the eSubpoena System to all the cities of the NCR.

Gathering, sharing, and analysis of information related to court

procedures and processes are needed for the success of the JSCC and the

Justice Zones. The GOJUST Programme will provide support for the

development of an interconnected electronic information sharing platform —

only a platform. In other words, the judiciary has not agreed to connect its

entire system to the other systems. What we have just agreed is to share

information with the National Justice Information System, which is being

headed by the Department of Justice. With these projects, we hope to already

deliver the first key result area under the GOJUST Programme. So we are

monitoring our availability to deliver under the three key result areas.

Now we come to result number two: curtailment of backlog, and

streamlining and computerization of case management systems. Now I thank

Ambassador Jessen for recognizing that we have already in the judiciary an

eCourt System, and a recognition by the EU that the support of this program

will now be a large contribution to building up and expanding the system to

cover more areas. So we are thankful to GOJUST that they are supporting

decongestion initiatives in approximately 60 courts in Region IV-A. This will

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go a long way because we really have highly congested courts in the

CALABARZON, which is a very sensitive area as far as investors are concerned,

so we are thankful for this. This decongestion initiative includes the conduct

of physical inventory of cases in the burdened courts, the preparation of a

case decongestion plan per court to be submitted and approved by the judge,

and the implementation of the decongestion plan itself. Now I hear that Justice

Secretary Aguirre will have a counterpart decongestion program for the

Department of Justice, and we look forward also to hearing about the details

of this program.

We will also build on the successes of the EPJUST II Programme because

I think that the GOJUST Programme is going to now study decongestion and

delay in the National Prosecution Service (NPS). And I believe that there is a

methodology for the decongestion of the dockets of prosecution offices that is

also going to come out as a result of the program. So that addressing the

problem of excessive and unnecessary delays will happen through the

program.

But I wish, on a personal note, to again reach out to the Department of

Justice that we need the appointment of more prosecutors. Yesterday I was

just with the Executive Judges of the Metro Manila area and in many areas

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they keep on complaining about the lack of prosecutors as a reason for the

delay of criminal cases especially if we push forward with the Continuous Trial

System for Courts.

So we are going to have manuals and best practice guidelines for all the

Justice Zones. We are now undertaking preparatory work for the roll-out of

the eCourt System in Region IV-A. Ambassador Jessen, our courts are already

being prepared to accept the infrastructure and the software deployment to

those areas.

Lastly, the key result area is improving the administrative and financial

management systems to reinforce court administration, human resource (HR)

management, and high-level performance management of both the Judiciary

and the DOJ. This inter-sector approach has been the foundation of the JSCC as

it promotes the survival of joint reform initiatives.

And therefore in this particular area [as to] the part of the Court, the

GOJUST Programme will support the analysis of the pertinent data being

submitted monthly to the Office of the Court Administrator and use analytical

methods to establish a high level of consensus as to the kinds and quality of

reports that would allow management to come up with good and timely

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decisions. We will also be strengthened by your support for our HR reform

and we are thankful that you are going to support the continuous process

mapping sessions that all units in the judiciary are undergoing right now. And

we thank you that you are going to support the upgrading of our Management

Information Systems Office (MISO).

And then, through the PDP, I believe that GOJUST can help a long way in

eventually analyzing the sector wide support that must be given. And while

we have adopted a very cautious approach in this, we measure all our

initiatives on the doability; and while maintaining the professional

independence of the judiciary from the executive department, we recognize

that it is a joint commitment to our people.

So let me go again to my theme of sectoral accountability. If we are

really going to succeed in supporting the reform of the justice sector, we must

be willing to say that we are jointly accountable to our people. The judiciary

will not fail our people in this regard. Four and a half years ago, I took the

leadership of the Court and you have seen the reform initiatives being rolled

out one after the other. I have been reaching out to my brothers and sisters in

the DOJ, DILG, and their attached agencies, including the Philippine National

Police to join us — we must keep in step with each other. None can lag behind.

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None of the tributaries can be polluted. The source according to Secretary

Sueno must be pure and clean. And we call on everyone to not falter in our

brave march to reform. And I ask that you be patient with the judiciary, you be

patient with my prodding. I thank you that you have allowed me to continue

this leadership of the Coordinating Council, that you have not been turned off

by my consistent following up and my calls, and my urgings for all of us to

come up with a joint plan in addressing the problem of injustice. It takes more

than one agency, more than one branch. It is beyond the ability of the entire

judiciary to deliver justice alone. We need the help of prosecutors, public

attorneys, private defenders, private lawyers, the policemen, we need the help

of the local governments to make justice come alive. Let us not fail our people

as I continue to be encouraged by the support, not only of my brothers and

sisters in the judiciary, but also my brothers and sisters in government. And I

have to say that through all the times, the several years that we have been

sitting together as an entire sector, I have been amazed at the reform

programs that the PNP was tracking; and I have been amazed by the software

interventions you had been demonstrating to us to address criminality. I am

encouraged by the commitment of Secretary Aguirre that he will really attend

to the problem of a dearth of prosecutors and that he is very open to have

templates and information systems in place. And I am thankful to Secretary

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Sueno for bringing the participation of barangays to the floor. And I am also

thankful to my colleagues in the Supreme Court for not forgetting that we can

only deliver justice when it is done in an integrated coordinated fashion.

Sa inyo pong lahat at sa atin pong lahat, Mabuhay po ang trabaho ng

hustisya. Mabuhay po ang hustisya sa Pilipinas. Salamat po! (To all of us here

today, long live the work of justice; long live justice in the Philippines. Thank

you!)