Legarda Echoes UN Call for Safe Schools

MANILA-Senator Loren Legarda today echoed the call of the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR) for the Philippines to be a leader country in building safe schools.

Legarda, the UN Champion for Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation, made the statement as the UNISDR and the Department of Education, in partnership with the Office of Senator Loren Legarda, launched the UN Global Programme on Safe Schools in the Philippines.

“By safe, we mean that school buildings should be structurally sound and built on safe ground. We do not want a strong temblor killing hundreds of children studying inside their classrooms or a whole mountain of mud instantly burying children alive, like what happened in Barangay Guinsaugon,” she said.

The safe schools program invites citizens to participate in the process of making schools disaster-resilient with the initial step of assessing the safety of schools in their communities.

The Senator recalled that in 2006, 246 schoolchildren were among the more than 1,000 casualties in a landslide that followed several days of heavy rains in Barangay Guinsaugon, St. Bernard, Southern Leyte.

Meanwhile, in 2013, when typhoon Yolanda made landfall, even some evacuation centers were reached by the storm surge, instantly killing hundreds of individuals who thought they had already sought refuge. Yolanda damaged more than 3,000 schools, aside from other infrastructure, in the affected regions.

“It is estimated that annually, disasters affect 66.5 million children worldwide; and because children are among the most vulnerable to disasters, it is important that not only do we keep our children out of harm’s way, but also we make them part of building resilient communities,” said Legarda.

She explained that learning institutions and the youth should be directly involved in efforts to make communities safe from disasters. Children should witness and practice disaster risk reduction early on in life.

“If we inculcate in our children a level of disaster preparedness, this will be passed on to the succeeding generations when they become adults. This is what we aim with the safe schools initiative. We need safe schools; we need schoolchildren who are knowledgeable and informed about DRR. In making our nation disaster-resilient, we not only protect our young people, but also invest in our country’s future,” Legarda concluded.

P20-M PNP hostel to rise in NE

CABANATUAN CITY, Nueva Ecija – A three-story, P20-million hostel for the Philippine National Police will rise inside the provincial police camp here soon to serve as home to police officers in the province.

          The exquisitely designed hostel and multi-purpose building was unveiled during ground-breaking ceremonies inside the provincial public safety company compound fronting the Nueva Ecija Provincial Police Office here Monday.

          Nueva Ecija Gov. Aurelio Umali said the facility, which will serve as the police officers’ “home away from home,” will be finished in six months. It was funded by the provincial government out of its realigned intelligence funds.

          Umali led the ground-breaking rites for the building along with PNP Chief Director General Alan Madrid Purisima, National Police Commission vice chairman Eduardo Escueta and Commissioners Alejandro Urro and Luisito Palmera and provincial police director, Senior Superintendent Crizaldo Nieves.

          Umali said the facility will house a conference hall in the ground floor, 10 mini-suites in the second floor and four suites in the third floor. He said the provincial police can hold their command conference as well as small gatherings and functions in the area which will be a wi-fi zone.

          He added that this is the first known provincial camp in the country where the local PNP will have lodging houses.

          Purisima said such facility will be a big help, particularly to transient officers and men and also to their families who come for a visit.

Nieves said that the facility is something the local police can be proud of. He said that such facility gives the local police a more dignified look and commands respect from the public.

          He said that the Umali administration has been very supportive of the PNP, citing the turn-over in recent months by the provincial government to the NEPPO of patrol vehicles and the construction of other amenities such as the PPSC headquarters and gymnasium plus training on the upgrading of police capabilities.   

          Umali, who is chairman of the Regional Peace and Order Council, said that his administration has been extending full support to the local PNP because it was instrumental in changing the image of the province from a political war zone into a zone of peace, referring to the spate of politically motivated killings .

          “Before, Nueva Ecija’s history was written in violence. I have to rewrite it and I can only do that if I have the support of the police,” he said in his speech.

          He said the province was so blessed to have Purisima – a Novo Ecijano - as the chief of the 148,000-strong police force.

          The governor said his administration has been extending assistance to the local PNP as a show of respect to the law enforcers, something which, he said, should be followed by other local government units in the province.

          “If you can give your life in the service, then the LGUs should pay respect to you by providing you with a decent and dignified place to live in,” he said.

          Umali said that year in and year out, the various police offices have been undergoing repair yet support is wanting. “It’s about time that if we really respect the PNP, let’s help them and not just talk,” he said, referring to the LGUs.

He said he is taking his hats off the PNP not only for transforming the image of the province but also for but also for its crime-busting efforts which resulted in reduced criminality. “You should wear your uniforms proudly,” he added. (Manny Galvez)          

Drilon, P. Cayetano urge colleagues to pass graphic health warnings on cigarette packs

MANILA-Senate President Franklin M. Drilon along with Senator Pia S. Cayetano introduced a measure on Monday which requires tobacco companies to display graphic labels on their products depicting the full health consequences of smoking, the latest of legislative efforts aimed at reducing the smoking incidence rates in the country.  

“The bill is necessary in order to strengthen the government's efforts to discourage smoking among our citizenry. Smokers have to be informed and made fully aware of what will happen to their health every time they pick up a cigarette pack," Drilon explained.

In his sponsorship speech, Drilon said the proposed picture-based health warning law seeks to increase the awareness of the public especially among the youth on the harmful and deadly effects of smoking.

He stressed that the measure’s passage is “of vital importance in the health situation of the country,” saying that the country has to badly address the unabated rise of cigarette smokers amongst Filipinos.

   

“The Philippines still registers as having one of the highest smoking incidences in the Western Pacific Region, even with measures like the Sin Tax Bill in effect. A much more decisive government action on this issue is then evidently required,” he said.

Based on the estimates done by the Department of Health, 87,600 Filipino die annually, or about ten Filipino deaths for every hour, due to smoking-related complications. Also, cigarette smoking costs an estimated P188 billion in annual health care expenses and productivity losses.

Cayetano, in her co-sponsorship speech, urged for a more decisive government action on smoking, in order to help stem large-scale human death smoking causes: "More than 5 million people die each year from direct tobacco use, while more than 600,000 people die from second hand smoke. With current smoking patterns, around 500 million people die will eventually die from tobacco use." 

Drilon then pointed to the main objective of the bill: “the passage of this proposed measure will bring closer to our goal of protecting the present and future generations from the devastating health, social, environmental and economic consequences of tobacco consumption and exposure to tobacco smoke.”

Under the bill, tobacco products have to display picture-based health warnings in full colour with accompanying text warnings that will be printed on at least 60 percent of the principal display surfaces for any tobacco package. The warnings will show the dangers of tobacco smoking or passive smoking, following guidelines to be issued by the Department of Health.

Drilon reasoned that graphic-based warnings on tobacco use are more effective than text-based warnings in educating the public about tobacco-induced health complications: “When we look at other countries where this system has been set in place, they were able to reduce the incidence of smoking in their respective jurisdictions."

Cayetano, for her part, stressed: "while many tobacco users know tobacco is harmful, studies show that most people are unaware of its true risk. Studies have also shown that picture-based warnings are much more effective than text warnings alone."

Both senators have been active in government campaigns against smoking and related health issues. Cayetano had authored and sponsored two earlier versions on graphic health warnings in the previous 14^th and 15^thCongress. Meanwhile, the Senate President has been active in furthering anti-smoking policies in the country, foremost among which is the passage of the Sin Tax Reform Act in 2012. 

Legarda: Invest in Safe, Resilient Schools

MANILA-Senator Loren Legarda today reiterated her call for both the government and the private sector to ensure that all schools in the country are safe from disasters.

Legarda, the UN Champion for Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation for Asia-Pacific, made the call as the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR), the Department of Education, and the Office of Senator Loren Legarda are set to launch “The Philippines as a Leader Country of the UN Global Programme on Safe Schools Towards the 2015 World Conference on DRR.”

“It is important to make our schools disaster-resilient to keep our children, who are most vulnerable to disasters, out of harm’s way when natural hazards strike. Aside from being a shelter for children, schools are critical public infrastructures, especially in times of disaster when victims need emergency refuge. Therefore, schools must be able to withstand earthquakes, typhoons and other natural hazards,” she said.

Legarda explained that the Safe Schools Campaign of the UNISDR is a global program that aims to encourage governments and communities to assess the safety of schools and build the resilience of these critical structures.

The program invites citizens to participate in the process of making schools disaster-resilient with the initial step of assessing the safety of schools in their communities not only in terms of ensuring the structural integrity of the buildings but also in making sure that students and school staff are prepared in the event a natural hazard occurs.

To facilitate the assessment of school safety in the country, an innovative online system for crowd-sourced hazard-and-risk mapping of schools will be introduced.

 “Safe schools are essential to ensuring that our children are safe from disasters and injuries and thus beneficial to their general health and development. The government must fortify and enhance the structural integrity of public schools, while the private education sector should be encouraged to do the same,” Legarda said.

“Building the resilience of the education sector is a worthy investment. It brings the double benefit of saving lives and achieving our development goals,” she concluded.

Recto files bill decriminalizing libel

MANILA-Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto filed on Feb. 27 a bill decriminalizing libel, joining a growing list of senators wanting to delist it from the book of crimes.

In Senate Bill 2146, Recto traced the origins of libel as a tool against criticisms and to shield public officials from insults.

He said the 84-year-old was a fusion of the Spanish Codigo Penal and the 1932 Revised Penal Code, “with archaic provisions which had been overtaken by jurisprudence expanding free speech.”

In the bill’s explanatory note, the senator echoed Justice Marvic Leonen’s dissent on the Cybercrime Law “that libel prosecution has evolved from protecting both private citizens and public figures to its modern notion of shielding only private parties from defamatory utterances.”

Even if libel will be decriminalized, Recto said there is another way that “scurrilous and defamatory remarks damaging to one’s reputation” can be set right.

“The institution of civil action for damages can restore a sullied reputation,” he said.

Recto said “it is high time for Congress to revisit defamation laws, and recalibrate them in a manner that they can prevent and penalize malicious and unfounded attacks on a person’s reputation without stifling free speech and the open discussion of policies that affect the public.”  

“Even if we take out libel, there should remain a shield which a private, ordinary citizen can use when he is assaulted by harsh tags,” he said.

“We need these safeguards because one of the best apps of a civilized society are laws which allow a private individual robbed of honor to seek restitution,” Recto said.

He said he filed the libel repeal bill because the best way to address the court-upheld cyberlibel provision in the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012 is to go to the source which is the Revised Penal Code.

Recto’s bill seeks to repeal Articles 353,354,355,356, 357, 360, 361 and 362 of the Revised Penal Code and Section 4 (c) 4 of the Republic Act 10175 or the Cybercrime Law. 

Tarlac cops hit for harassing scribe

TARLAC CITY – The leadership of the Central Luzon Media Association yesterday lambasted policemen from the Tarlac Police Provincial Office for allegedly harassing a publisher of a local newsweekly and barring him entry inside the office of the provincial police director.

          Bonifacio Dacayanan, publisher of Facts and Figures Newsweekly based in this city, said the incident took place at around 1 pm last February 26 when he visited the TPPO headquarters in Barangay San Vicente, Camp Macabulos here to inquire about the status of a previously arranged appointment with Senior Superintendent Alex Sintin, newly installed provincial director.

          Dacayanan said two policemen manning the gate of the police camp whom he identified as a certain Police Officer 1 Bautista and one PO1 Rombaoa asked him for his concerns.

When he informed them he was going to meet Sintin, the two lawmen asked him to present his identification card. After doing so, he said the lawmen gave him clearance to proceed to the police headquarters.       

But a few moments later, Dacayanan said one of them called him out and stopped him. The lawman then took his ID and ran towards the headquarters supposedly to show it to officials at the camp.

He said while holding him at the camp gate, others who passed the gate, including ordinary people, were allowed freely inside without being subjected to such harassment. 

After a few minutes, the lawman returned with the ID and finally allowed him to enter the camp.

Dacayanan said prior to the incident, he and Sintin had held initial talks on the possible coordination between the PNP and the media in Tarlac.

Dacayanan said it was not the first time he was maltreated by authorities. He said he received a similar treatment from the Northern Luzon Command (Nolcom) when he visited the military headquarters in Barangay San Miguel in Camp Servillano Aquino here.   

He narrated his experience during the directorate meeting of the CLMA at a local restaurant here Friday night.

        CLMA president Tony Vallejo asked Chief Superintendent Raul  Petrasanta, regional director of the Philippine National Police Regional Office 3, to order a full-dress investigation on the incident to prevent a possible whitewash by the TPPO.

          “We condemn the strongest terms this dastardly treatment of the members of the fourth estate, particularly our own. They ought to accord respect to media practitioners. Authorities should do something about it,” Vallejo said. (Manny Galvez)   

Senate slashed DSWD publicity budget to enrol 100,000 Yolanda victims in CCT

MANILA-Twenty thousand additional Yolanda-stricken families will be included  in the government’s Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) program this year, courtesy of a Senate amendment in the 2014 national budget which slashed P336 million from the program’s overhead in order to enroll that many typhoon victims.

The senator who authored the amendment, Ralph Recto, said that as a result of the Senate action, an equivalent of 100,000 more individuals in Yolanda areas will be brought under the coverage of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps), CCT’s official name.

“Calamity victims should not live from one relief bag to another. One of the best forms of aid is the 4Ps because it is predictable, guaranteed and sustained.  Yan ang tunay na pantawid, hindi pansamantala o panandalian,” Recto, who is also Senate President Pro-Tempore, said.

With their enrollment in 4Ps, Recto said the 20,000 families will receive P16,800 this year, in monthly payouts of P1,400, provided that they comply with certain “conditionalities” like regular attendance of their children in school.      

He explained that what the Senate did to fund the enrollment of 20,000 families is cut the 4Ps administrative expenses from the proposed P5.41 billion to P5.03 billion.

“Specifically, what was reduced was the budget for publicity, from P141 million to P40 million, and the budget for training, from P533 million to P218 million, and the cuts were mainly used to accommodate more 4Ps beneficiaries,“ he said.  

As a result, the cash grant component of the 4Ps budget rose from P57.2 billion to P57.57 billion. If its administrative overhead of P5.03 billion is included, the total budget of 4Ps for the year is P62.2 billion.    

This amount will be used to put 4,461,732 households under the regular 4Ps program.  In addition, 4.3 million high school students will be enrolled in the “extended CCT” program in which each will be given a monthly stipend of  P500.

Recto praised Senate President Franklin Drilon and Senate finance committee head Sen. Francis Escudero for “accepting and defending this and other calamity rehabilitation amendments” which made their way to the 2014 General Appropriations Act.

Other Recto amendments which were consolidated in the 2014 national budget were the creation of the P20 billion Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Fund, the increase of the Calamity Fund from P7.5 billion to P13 billion, and earmarking P20 billion in the Unprogrammed Fund for reconstruction.

Legarda Shares PHL’s Journey to Climate Awareness at East Asia Summit

MANILA-Senator Loren Legarda shared the Philippines’ “long and arduous journey” towards policies and action on climate adaptation and disaster resilience at the recent East Asia Summit Climate Change Adaptation Workshop organized by the Australian Government.

Legarda, Chair of the Senate Committee on Climate Change, said that past disasters of grave magnitude exposed the need to build the resilience of Philippine communities.

“Since my first term in 1998 in the Senate, my advocacy has been consistent and clear – protect our environment, adapt to climate change and mitigate its impacts.  It has never been an easy task as people viewed climate change then as an abstract issue best reserved for experts and the scientists,” she explained.

“It had to take typhoon Ondoy for Filipinos to realize that climate change is not just a scientific and environmental issue, but an all encompassing threat to us, our aspirations, and to future generations. The massive loss of lives and the inundation of Metro Manila opened the eyes of the government and the public that climate change is no longer a threat, but a challenge we all need to take seriously,” she added.

It was in 2008 when the Senate Committee on Climate Change, through a resolution filed by Legarda, was formed. In 2009, less than 30 days after Ondoy, the Climate Change Act, which mainstreams climate change adaptation in various phases of policy formulation, was passed; and in 2010, the Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act was enacted.

 

“Along with the passage of important laws on climate change, appropriations for climate change programs have been increasing at an average of 26 percent yearly since 2009. The enacted budget of 2014 provides more funds for rehabilitation and reconstruction efforts in disaster-stricken areas. The amount of 13 billion pesos has been allocated for the Calamity Fund, which is now known as the NDRRM Fund,” Legarda said.

“Given these resources, albeit limited, we should build better, stronger, and using the best standards in light of the natural and man-made hazards we face today. In light of this need, I am pushing for an environmental audit that will measure the level of compliance with the country’s environmental laws. I also call on our officials, community members, and our partners to lead disaster resiliency efforts,” she added.

Legarda emphasized that vulnerabilities can be addressed through the upgrading and enforcement of building standards, risk-sensitive urban planning and investment, stronger social protection, promoting measures that advance economic and business resilience, and engaging communities in efforts to achieve resilience.  

“We should all remember that poverty breeds disaster vulnerability. Those who have less in life are faced with the greatest risks. Thus, as disasters become more prevalent, the greater is the responsibility of government to extend social protection to the country’s poor. Disaster risk reduction is social justice in action. Moreover, the disasters that we have experienced, along with our shared memory of death, loss and survival, should drive us to build a resilient future and a safer Earth,” Legarda concluded.

Motorcycle accidents kill 2 in NE

CABANATUAN CITY, Nueva Ecija – Two vehicular accidents, both involving motorcycles, have claimed the lives of two people, including a widow while another was critically wounded in Nueva Ecija Thursday, police said.

          Senior Superintendent Crizaldo Nieves, provincial police director, identified those who died as Jayson Billandres, 21, of Barangay Mayapyap Norte this city and Marciana Sinense, 58, of Barangay Sinasajan, Peñaranda town.

          Billandres met his death Thursday night along the Fort Magsaysay-Cabanatuan City road.

Superintendent Pedro Soliba, Cabanatuan police chief, said Billandres was driving his white Rusi motorcycle with license plate   9170-QF with back rider Ranny Gabriel, 21 years old along said highway when the vehicle suddenly lost control and veered to the right shoulder of the road.

On impact, Billandres and Gabriel were thrown out of the vehicle, with the former hitting his temple on the pavement. They were both rushed to the nearby Fort Magsaysay Hospital in Palayan City but Billandres was pronounced dead on arrival due to head injuries while Gabriel was listed in critical condition.

In Peñaranda, a speeding Red Racal motorcycle with license plate 1185 RZ and driven by Michael Casulucan ran into Sinense. 

Police said the motorcycle was heading northwards when Sinense suddenly appeared and was hit by vehicle.

Sinense sustained head and was brought to the Medicare Community Center in nearby Gen. Tinio town. She was later transferred to Paulino J. Garcia Memorial Research and Medical Center in this city but did not reach the hospital alive. – Manny Galvez

Legarda, UNISDR Chief Stress On Greater Action, Enhanced Cooperation To Build Resilience

MANILA-Senator Loren Legarda and Ms. Margareta Wahlström, Chief of the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR), both called for greater action and enhanced cooperation among sectors of society to build the Philippines’ resilience.

Wahlström is currently in the Philippines to work on several initiatives, including looking into rehabilitation efforts in Yolanda-affected communities.

Legarda, UN Champion for Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation for Asia-Pacific, welcomed the UNISDR Chief and expressed her full support to the organization’s continuing advocacy in promoting DRR.

“Even with the passage of landmark laws on climate change and disaster resilience, we continue to engage the government and all sectors of society in improved multi-lateral partnerships on disaster risk reduction and management programs,” the Senator said.

In a meeting with members of government agencies, academe, private sector and the diplomatic corps, Legarda and Wahlström stressed on the need to map out a strategy to strengthen resilience in Yolanda-affected areas and the country as a whole.

Wahlström pointed out that DRR is doable and it would not take long to see the gains because the country already has the necessary laws. However, the greater challenge is how to turn policies into effective action.

Wahlström also cited Legarda as a “super champ” who has always taken the lead in inspiring and motivating key stakeholders to ensure that disaster resilience will be everybody’s business.

Meanwhile, the Senator stressed on her commitment to continue on with her mission, this time with the Safe Schools campaign.

“We have initiated the regional DRR workshops, lectures on climate change in schools, distribution of disaster preparedness manuals and geohazard maps in local government units, and now we will work towards making every school in every barangay safe and resilient. We have a lot of work to do and we all have to work together and in synergy towards a unified action for disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation in the country,” said Legarda.

Because new MRT trains will arrive in 2016, Recto seeks interim measures to address congestion

MANILA-Because full delivery of 48 new Metro Rail Transit (MRT) 3 coaches will happen three months before President Aquino bows out of office in 2016, government should in the meantime apply measures which would lessen the discomfort of the transit’s more than half a million daily passengers.

The call was made by Senate President Pro-Tempore Ralph Recto who said that “while the purchase of trains from China has been green lighted by the courts, there remains the need to ease the situation while waiting for their arrival.”

“The trains are coming but something must be done about the daily calvary of MRT riders,” Recto said.

One mitigating measure, Recto said, is to further extend the MRT 3 service to midnight.   At present, the last train leaves Trinoma station at 10:30 p.m. while the last one from the opposite direction pulls out of Taft Avenue station at 11 p.m.

“By extending its operating hours by just one hour, the MRT 3 can theoretically field 20 more trips, and thus carry 23,640 more passengers per direction. Even if just 8 trips will be put in service during the extended period, they can still carry what 200 buses can,” Recto said.

MRT 3 operators should not worry about the availability of passengers, he said, because Metro Manila, with a population of 13 million, is now a 24/7 metropolis.

Recto said the DOTC should also ensure that MRT tracks and rolling stocking are properly maintained because “bog downs and technical problems” are the rail passengers’ biggest source of inconvenience.

He urged the MRT management to pursue its plans of stepping up rail grinding and replacement projects.

He said airconditioners of MRT coaches should be properly maintained, as “they are a must in the coming summer months.”

“The MRT should not be a moving steam bath,” Recto said.

Other passenger comfort amenities which should be addressed are “clean toilets, and functioning elevators and escalators, which seniors and the disabled need,” Recto said.

“Hindi mo naman siguro kailangan pang bumili ng gripo sa China para may tubig ang mga banyo,” he said.

  

As to the long queues which coil around sidewalks below MRT stations, Recto said management should this early purchase tents which will shield passengers from rain in the coming monsoon months.

It should also study the feasibility of increasing the stored value in MRT cards which is presently set at a maximum of P100, Recto said.  “A higher load means fewer trips and shorter lines to the ticket booth.”

Amid reports of rising pickpocketing incidents inside coaches and in and around stations, Recto called on both the rail operator and the police to beef up security.

The places around stations must be well lighted, he said.

The senator is also prodding the DOTC to assess the viability of ordering more coaches or what are technically called light rail vehicles (LRVs).

“When the 48 new LRVs will be put in service, they will increase the number of hourly trips from 20 to 24. Because the system can handle one trip every two minutes, or 30 in an hour, then there is room for more trains,” Recto said.

If this is feasible, then maybe the outlay needed can be included in the proposed 2015 national budget which, Recto pointed out, “is being assembled at the DBM at the moment.”

"Ang punto ko lang, baka naman sa 2017 or 2018 na naman tayo bibili ng dagdag na mga bagon. Kung pwedeng agahan, kung maresolba angownership at buyout issues ng maaga, e di maaga din dapat ang pag-order, hindi yung parating huli," he said.  

After a Makati court dismissed the injunction case filed by a private corporation last Feb. 21, the DOTC issued a Notice to Proceed to the Dalian Locomotive and Rolling Stock Company of China for the delivery of 48 LRVs.

Under the P3.8 billion contract, Dalian will deliver a prototype within 18 months and deliver the remaining LRVs in tranches over the next 18 months.

The DOTC has however announced that Dalian has promised to deliver the prototype in a year’s time, to be followed by monthly deliveries of  the LRVs within one year, which means that full delivery is expected by March 2016. 

Drilon, Pimentel sponsor amendments to the Sandiganbayan charter

MANILA-Senate President Franklin M. Drilon and Senator Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III introduced a proposed measure Wednesday that would strengthen the current structure of the Sandiganbayan, a move which is seen to decongest the clogged dockets of the country’s anti-graft court.  

In his sponsorship speech, Drilon noted the dismal disposition of graft cases at the Sandiganbayan. “The Sandiganbayan completes the proceedings of a case – from the filing of the information to promulgation of judgment – in about seven years. This sorry rate of disposition reflects the heavily clogged dockets of the court, given that the cases filed before it has multiplied over the years. Such a drawn-out process of litigation is injustice itself,” ephasized Drilon.  

“This inability to swiftly achieve the objective for which it was created can be attributed to the anti-graft court’s systemic limitations, considering that it has nearly been two decades since the Sandiganbayan Law has undergone legislative amendment,” he stressed.

Senate Bill No. 2138, known as the “An Act Further Amending Presidential Decree No. 1606, as amended” seeks to introduce three innovations in the anti-graft court:

1)   The bill seeks to introduce the concept of “Justice-Designate” that will allow one justice to hear receive evidence, and amend the quorum requirement from three justices in a division to two;

2)   The bill seeks to transfer the jurisdiction over “minor cases” to the Regional Trial Courts; and

3)   The bill seeks to modify the voting requirement for promulgation of judgment to allow the concurrence of at least two members of a division, instead of three, to render a decision.

“The objective of this bill is to improve the disposition of cases in the Sandiganbayan, our country’s specialized court tasked to effectively and swiftly resolve corruption cases against erring government officials and employees,” Pimentel explained.

Under the bill, an individual member of a division is allowed to hear and receive evidence on behalf of the two other members of his or her division. Presently, the Sandiganbayan is composed of five divisions, with three justices each; and the presence of the three justices is required to receive evidence and try a case.

The bill also proposes the transfer of jurisdiction over cases that are classified as “minor” to the Regional Trial Courts. The measure qualifies “minor cases” as those where the information does not allege any damage or bribe; those that allege damage or bribe that are unquantifiable; or those that allege damage or bribe arising from the same or closely related transactions or acts not exceeding P1 million.

“If we are to outrun graft and corruption, it is imperative that we resuscitate and recondition our existing prosecutorial and adjudicatory institutions against this opponent,” said the Senate chief.

“It is imperative for us to introduce and make the necessary revisions in the Court’s structure to ensure that justice is delivered, with haste and without delay,” stressed Pimentel.

Lastly, SBN 2138 seeks to modify the voting requirement for promulgation of judgment, by allowing at least the concurrence of two members to render a judgment. Under the Section 5 of the Sandiganbayan Law, the unanimous vote of all three members in a division is necessary for the rendition of final order. Failure to reach unanimity shall require the constitution of a special division of five members.

“The most potent deterrent against the spread of corruption is the certainty of punishment and expeditiousness of the proceedings, by boosting the structural capability of our anti-graft mechanisms,” said Drilon.

Drilon concluded that with these cutting edge proposals, the Senate is confident that the Sandiganbayan will be able to catch up with the pace of graft and corruption in public institution.