Republic of the Philippines
Quezon City

SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

HOUSE BILL NO.__24:

PEGISTRATION UNIT
2 ANU INDEX SERVICE

Bary

Introduced by Representative Federico S, Sandoval IT

EXPLANATORY NOTE

Article III, Section 16 of the Bill of Rights of the 1987 Philippine Constitution provides
that “all persons have the right to a speedy disposition of their cases before all judicial,
quasi-judicial or administrative bodies

The aforementioned provision is a constitutional safeguard not only for the plaintiff but
also for the defendant as well. Violation of this would cause severe clogging of court dockets.
Thousands of cases remain pending for further action or resolution. The cases pending keep
piling up at an alarming level. The backlog will continue to grow rather than diminish unless
Judges would be able to dispose cases through a systematic and sustained judicial reform
program

There are several measures to solve the problem of court dockets congestion. One of
which is to increase the number of courts in proportion to corresponding demographic
increases and locating them in centers of population for greater accessibility.”

An example is the Metropolitan Trial Court (MeTC) in Malabon City, for which there are
two (2) branches. As of March 2015, the Malabon MeTC has a total caseload of 2,031. This
translates to an average caseload of 1,015 per branch per year and exceeds the manageable
caseload of 500 for first level courts by a staggering 515 cases per branch. To address this
increasing number of caseloads, the establishment of two additional branches of the MeTC is
therefore mandatory.?

With the passage of this proposed measure, I sincerely hope that my constituents in the
City of Malabon will not be denied due process due to the delay in the disposition of cases.

HOY. FEDERICO S.SANDOVAL II
‘epresentative, Malabon City

* Alfredo F. Tadiar, Unclogging The Court Dockets, Symposium on Economic Policy Agenda for the Estrada
‘Administration, June 1, 1999 at INOTECH, Commonwealth Ave., Diliman, Quezon City.

Ibid,

* Office of the Court Administrator, Supreme Court.


Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City

SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

HOUSE BILL NO__24

Introduced by Representative Federico S. Sandoval, IL

AN ACT
CREATING TWO ADDITIONAL BRANCHES OF THE METROPOLITAN
TRIAL COURT WITH SEATS AT MALABON CITY, METRO MANILA IN
THE NATIONAL CAPITAL JUDICIAL REGION, AMENDING FOR THE
PURPOSE SECTION 27 OF BATAS PAMBANSA BLG. 129, OTHERWISE
KNOWN AS THE JUDICIARY REORGANIZATION ACT OF 1980, AS
AMENDED, AND APPROPRIATING FUNDS THEREFOR

Be it enacted by the Senate and the House of Representatives of the Philippines in the
Congress assembled:

SECTION 1. Two (2) Additional Branches of the Metropolitan Trial Court with
Seats at Malabon City, Metro Manila in the National Capital Judicial Region are hereby
created.

SEC. 2. The Supreme Court shall assign the branch numbers of the newly-created
Metropolitan Trial Court Branches under this Act.

SEC. 3. The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, in coordination with the Secretary
of the Department of Justice, shall immediately include in the Court’s program the
operationalization of the newly-created Metropolitan Trial Court branches under this Act, the
funding of which shall be included in the Annual General Appropriations Act. Provided, that
the funds necessary for their operation shall be appropriated and released only upon their
actual organization and the appointment of their personnel.

SEC. 4. Section 27 of Batas Pambansa Blg. 129, otherwise known as “The Judiciary
Reorganization Act of 1980”, as amended, and all other laws, executive orders, and rules and
regulations which are inconsistent with this Act are hereby amended, repealed, or modified
accordingly.

SEC. 5. This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after the completion of its
publication in two (2) newspapers of general circulation.

Approved,