Speedy construction of new Manila court building sought

A Manila City councilor on Saturday asked the national government to speed up the construction of the city’s new Hall of Justice that has been pending since 2005. Councilor Elizabeth Rivera of Manila’s sixth district filed a resolution on Saturday appealing for the immediate action on a proclamation order issued by then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo allowing the construction of the new building in Ermita. In her three-page resolution addressed to President Benigno Aquino III and Chief Justice Renato Corona, Rivera said the city’s old courtrooms are already “dilapidated" and have caused “grave inconveniences" to her constituents. “The city of Manila, the Philippines’ premiere city, long deserves a Hall of Justice as court litigations continue to be held in dilapidated court rooms inside the City Hall building and other different places, causing grave inconveniences and adversely affecting the nation’s administration of justice," she said in her resolution. Rivera added that for the past five years, the one-hectare lot occupied by the old Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) building in Ermita, where the new Hall of Justice is supposed to be built, has merely remained idle. She likewise criticized the Aquino government’s move not to allot any budget for construction of new courtrooms next year. In its proposed 2011 national budget, the Department of Budget and Management did not allot any budget for judiciary capital outlay, which covers infrastructure projects. (See: Judiciary gets zero for capital outlay for new courtrooms) During the budget hearings in Congress, Supreme Court administrator Jose Midas Marquez said the judiciary will not be able to build and repair courtrooms and buildings because of the DBM’s decision not to grant the P1.875 billion budget for capital outlay the high court proposed to the executive branch.—Andreo C. Calonzo/JV, GMANews.TV