DRUG cases docketed in the Regional Trial Court (RTC) in Bacolod City have surged during the administration of President Rodridgo Duterte, the executive judge said.
RTC Branch 52 Judge Raymond Joseph Javier, during the “Uncovering the Courts: Media Training on Monitoring the Judiciary” at Grand Regal Hotel in Bacolod City Friday, said 528 drug cases were filed by law enforcers in the city from January to June this year while 839 were docketed in drug courts in 2016.
Last year, 200 drug cases were filed in two months, from July to August, he said.
Duterte assumed the presidency in July 2016.
In Bacolod, only two courts handle drug cases – Branches 47 and 52.
In September last year, the Supreme Court (SC) issued an order that all drug cases be raffled to all general jurisdictional courts, Javier said.
“We have an administrative matter from SC, drug cases are now open to nine other courts (in Bacolod), before only two drug courts (are handling these),” he added.
Javier said he is in charge of the raffling of cases every week.
“I see the amount of cases that come in. In every given week, 80 percent that are raffled to courts are drug cases...If this was not raffled to all courts, this will be divided to only two courts,” he added.
Backlogs
Javier said the judicial branch of the government is doing its best to hasten the justice system in the country, including the court backlogs.
“We’re only humans, there are limitations. The first limitation is time. Second is the backlog,” he explained.
Javier added: “When we came in, we inherit cases, we didn’t start from zero.”
He also said the high court issued an order in September last year that there will be continuous trial for criminal cases, meaning the court will not entertain postponements, except by the acts of God or the physical inability of the witness to appear.
Javier said it is a multi-faceted approach, and he is hoping that aside from them, practitioners, prosecutors, public lawyers, will support it so it will succeed as it is “our goal.”
He said they are “working very hard” on the new program of the SC.
“We want it to succeed. It is favorable to the accused, the litigant, and the court. The less time the case stays in our docket, the better,” Javier added.