Justice on Wheels goes to Aurora on Saturday

MANILA, Philippines - Supreme Court officials will hold on Saturday an Enhanced Justice on Wheels (EJOW) program in Baler, Aurora. Led by no less than Chief Justice Reynato S. Puno, together with Justice on Wheels (JOW) Chairperson Justice Consuelo Ynares-Santiago, will be participate in the activity. The justice on wheels program has visited Manila, Caloocan City, Quezon City, Cebu City, Aklan, Davao City, Davao del Sur, Davao del Norte, Bacoor, Tacloban City, and Zambales. It has caused the provisional release of close to 500 inmates while thousands of other inmates were given medical and dental attention. The Enhanced JOW Program, in conjunction with the Court’s Increasing Access to Justice by the Poor Program, is part of efforts to respond to the gaps and roadblocks under the justice system that limit the poor from seeking redress from the courts. The Program follows the successful Forum on Increasing Access to Justice: Bridging Gaps and Removing Roadblocks led by the SC last June 30 and July 1. On Saturday, the group will holding JOW hearings. In addition, there would also be medical and dental missions, mobile court-annexed mediation, and free legal aid. There would also be workshops and dialogue with barangay officials, the court said in a statement posted on its Web site. Court hearings will be conducted from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. inside the mobile court which will be stationed at the Provincial Capital Compound in Baler. The hearings will be presided by Presiding Judges Evelyn A. Atienza-Turla of the Regional Trial Court Branches 66 and 96 and Renato D. Pinlac of the Municipal Circuit Trial Court in the province. Mediators Basilio P. Rupisan, Jr., Anna Marie J. Logar, and Raymundo S. Quitlong, Jr. will also conduct court-annexed mediation there. The information dissemination lectures, which are set to be attended by Baler barangay officials, will be held at the Sangguniang Lalawigan Session Hall. Court Administrator Jose P. Perez will lecture on court-annexed mediation and judicial dispute resolution mechanisms. Deputy Clerk of Court Nimfa C. Vilches, Vice-Chairperson of the Committee on Justice on Wheels, will talk on Barangay Protection Order under The Anti-Violence Against Women Act (Republic Act 9262), Diversion under The Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act of 2006 (RA 9344), and Enforcement of Compromise Agreements before the Barangay in Small Claims Court under the Rule of Procedure for Small Claims Cases. Court of Appeals Justice Oswaldo D. Agcaoili (ret.), Professor II of the Philippine Judicial Academy – the academic arm of the Supreme Court – will discuss the Indigenous People’s Rights Act, and Agrarian and Land Registration Law. Puno will deliver the closing remarks during the event. - PR/GMANews.TV