PRIVILEGE SPEECH
Hon. RACHEL ZOZOBRADO
City Councilor
September 9, 2008

Maayong buntag sa inyong tanan!

I rise on a personal and collective privilege.

Everyone’s attention is, as it should be, on the still unresolved peace and order problems in some parts of Mindanao. Then there is that brouhaha caused by reports and charges of alleged corruption in the Court of Appeals which still leaves a bitter taste in everyone’s mouth.

Amidst all these, I would like to commend the Supreme Court for its Justice On Wheels program. This program shows that while it would seem that the wheels of justice grind slowly, it does not stop grinding and is now literally within the reach of the people.

The Justice On Wheels program is a product of then Chief Justice Hilario Davide’s vision to make access to justice by the poor one of the major thrusts of the Supreme Court.

Administrative Matter No. 04-6-02-SC which mandates the implementation of Justice On Wheels was patterned from the Guatemala government’s efforts to bring justice to the grassroots through its mobile court system. This mobile travels in places where there are no judges and hears cases that involves domestic relations and labor as well as conduct mediation.

Lately, the Supreme Court added its speedy trial program and launched it through the Justice On Wheels, which is aimed at decongesting city jails all over the country. In Southern Mindanao, for instance, cases of a number of inmates who have languished in jail for years were finally and completely tried. It was reported that some 142 of these inmates were released.

The implementation of the Justice on Wheels Program of the Supreme Court of the Philippines is primarily geared towards bringing justice closer to the Filipino people. This is the same dream that my father, the late councilor Jesus A. Zozobrado, Jr. had, when he passed a resolution in the halls of this same council, requesting the House of Representatives for the creation of additional courts for barangays in Toril, Calinan and Sasa in Davao City. And while this dream has not been realized during his lifetime, and the aforestated Resolution is, in fact, still awaiting action from the House of Representatives, I am happy to note that with the Supreme Court’s Justice On Wheels Program, his dream of bringing justice closer to the barangays is now nearer to reality.

In approving the circular providing for the establishment of the Wheels on Justice Program, the Supreme Court noted the number of vacancies in Philippine courts particularly in the municipal trial courts and in the municipal circuit trial courts. This has resulted to delays in the resolution of cases which is not good as delayed justice can impede the country’s progress by undermining the political, social and economic stability of the country.

Let us extend our support to the Supreme Court’s Justice On Wheels Program and commend them in their efforts to ensure the effective administration of justice in our country.