THE 20TH City Council approved the passage of the Davao City Justice Zone ordinance on its third and final reading on Tuesday, September 3.
Councilor Lorenzo Villafuerte told the reporters during Aprubado on Tuesday that the city’s justice zone is one of the three institutionalized, among 16 total operating zones in the country.
Villafuerte, chairperson of the Committee on Civil, Political, and Human Rights, said the Davao Swift Justice Program under the Zone will be operationalized upon the SP’s approval of its budget.
Under the ordinance, the program will be allocated P16 million, however, its initial budget is P3.5 million, subject to change annually as it has to align with the implementation needs of the Zone.
“We are yet to identify where the budget will be sourced from, however, it also receives funding from Go Just- a project of the Philippine government funded by the European Union,” Villafuerte added.
The program’s funding will be tackled in the next budget hearing for 2025.
Villafuerte said strengthening the barangay justice system, especially the Lupong Tagapamayapa is one of the program highlights.
Lupong Tagapamayapa is an administrative body created by law to operationalize the barangay justice system, better known as the Katarungang Pambarangay, responsible for amicable settlement of disputes.
“They are the key personnel in the barangay when it comes to delivering justice so they need additional training,” he said.
He added supporting the barangay20 justice system would positively impact court and jail congestion in the city, hence solving a small dispute at the barangay level is a huge contribution in the long run.
The population of the three Davao City Jails has a combined congestion rate of 1,065%: Davao City Jail- Male with 3,127, Davao City Jail- Female with 453, and Davao City Jail- Annex with 853.
Villafuerte added one of the causes of congestion in local detention facilities is the slow disposition of cases due to the court’s staff shortage.
“Through this ordinance, the city government will be able to allocate funds for the program constituted by the Zone, and this is the first step in achieving swift justice,” he said.
The councilor said upon approval of the budget, the plantilla positions will follow as current staff in the courts are under the city’s hired through job order.
Davao City Justice Zone started their efforts in March 2019 towards coordinated justice however, they recognized there is a need to provide long-term interventions for enhanced administration of justice.
The Zone is led by the Executive Judge of the Davao City Regional Trial Court with the coordinating agencies: LGU Davao departments, CADAC, PNP, Supreme Court-Hall of Justice-Davao City, Department of Justice-Office of the City Prosecutor, law schools in the city, and Bureau of Jail Management and Penology, and government line agencies.
