Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City
NINETEENTH CONGRES S
First Regular Session
HOUSE BILL-`No.    5219
Introduced by REPRESENTATIVE JONATHAN KEITH T. FLORES
EXPALANTORY NOTE
The  Court  of  Appeals  was  created  by  virtue  of  Commonwealth  Act  No.   3,
promulgated  on  December  31,1935  with  its  eleven  (11)  Judges,  which  later  on,  the
appellate judges were named justices.
On April 1938, the composition of the Court of Appeals was increased to fifteen (15)
justices. On February 1942, again increasing the number of justices to seventeen (17). In
1983,there was a thorough judicial reorganization under Batas Pambansa 81g.  129., E.O.
864 was issued wherein the Court of Appeals was renamed Intermediate Appellate Court
and its membership enlarged to fifty (50) associate justices and a presiding justice. F"7~ffoer,
in  1996,  R.A.  No.  8246  created  six  (6)  more  divisions  in the  Court,  by  increasing  its
membership from fifty-one (51) to sixty-nine (69) justices. The number of divisions was
increased from seventeen (17) to twenty-three (23).
The 2021  Judiciary Annual Report the Court of Appeals stationed in Manila, has
16,276 pending case with 31% disposition rate; in Cebu, it has 3,615 pending case with
41%  disposition  rate;  and  in  Cagayan  de  Oro,  it  has  2,155  pending  case  with  33°/o
disposition rate. As to the report given, the disposition rate of cases is depressing for not
even reaching at least half of the pending cases.
It  is  time  to  create  additional  divisions  in  the  Court  of Appeals  to  address  the
mountain cases in the various divisions of the CA. Thus, competitive number of judiciary
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members will undoubtedly assure speedy disposition of cases,  and regain the trust and
confidence of the general public.
In view of the foregoing, approval of this bill is eamestly sought.


Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City
NINETEENTH CONGRES S
First Regular Session
HousE B.Iii No..  5 2 1 9
Introduced by REPRESENTATIVE JONATHAN KEITH T. FLORES
AN ACT
CREATING   ADDITIONAL   DIVISIONS   IN   THE   COURT   0F   APPEALS,
INCREASING  THE  NUMBER  OF  COURT  OF  APPEALS  JUSTICES  FROM
SIXTY-NINH (69) TO SHVENTY-EIGHT (78), AMENDING FOR THE PURPOSH
BATAS PAMBANSA BILANG  129, AS AMENDED, OTHHRWISE KNOWN AS
THE   JUDICIARY   REORGANIZATI0N   ACT   0F   1980,   APPROPRIATING
FUNDS THHREFOR, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES
Be it e:I?ct.ed by the Senate and House Of Representatives Of the Philippines in Congress
assembled:
Section 1. Section 3, Chapter 1  of Batas Pambansa 81g.129, as amended, is hereby
further amended to read as follows:
"Sec  3.  Organization. -There  is hereby created a Court of Appeals which  shall
consist  of a  Presiding  Justice  and  seventy-seven  (77)  Associate  Justices  who  shall  be
appointed by the President of the Philippines. The Presiding Justice shall be so designated
in his appointment, and the Associate Justices shall have precedence according to the dates
of their respective appointments, or when the appointments of two or more of them shall
bear the same date, according to the order in which their appointments were issued by the
President. Any member who is reappointed to the Court after rendering service in another
position in the goverrment shall retain the precedence to which he was entitled under his
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original appointment and his  service in the Court shall,  for all  intents and purposes, be
considered as continuous and uninterrupted.
Section 2.  Section 4  of Batas Pambansa 81g.  129,  as amended,  is hereby  further
amended to read as follows:
"Sec. 4. Exercise of powers and Functions. -The Court of Appeals shall exercise its
powers, functions, and duties through twenty-six (26) divisions each composed of three (3)
members.  The  Court  may  sit  en  banc  for  the  purpose  of  exercising  administrative,
ceremonial or other non-adjudicatory functions.
Section 3.  Section  10 of Batas Pambansa 81g.  129, as amended, is hereby further
amended to read as follows:
"Sec. 10. Place of Holding Sessions. -The Court of Appeals shall have its permanent
stations as follows:
"The first seventeen (17) divisions shall be stationed in the City of Manila for cases
coming from the Third to the Fifth Judicial Regions;
"The Eighteenth, Nineteenth,  and Twentieth Divisions  shall be  in Cebu City for
cases coming from the Sixth, Seventh and Eighth Judicial Regions;
"The Twenty-first, Twenty-second and Twenty-third Divisions shall be in Cagayan
de Oro City for cases coming from the Ninth and Tenth Judicial Regions;
"The Twenty-fourth Division shall be in Vigan City for cases coming from the First
and Second Judicial Regions;
"The  Twenty-fifth  and  Twenty-sixth  Divisions  shall  be  in  Davao  City  for  cases
coming from the Eleventh and Twelfth Judicial Regions.
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"Whenever demanded by public interest, or wheneverjustified by an increase in case
load, the Supreme Court, upon its own initiative or upon recommendation of the Presiding
Justice of the Court of Appeals, may authorize any division of the Court to hold sessions
periodically, or for such periods and at such places; as the Supreme Court may determine
for the purpose of hearing and deciding cases.
"Trials  or  hearings  in  the  Court  of Appeals  must  be  continuous  and  must  be
completed within three (3) months unless extended by the Chief Justice of the Supreme
Court."
Section 4. Funding. - The amount necessary to carry out the provisions of this Act
shall be included in the General Appropriations Act of the year following its enactment
into law and thereafter.
Section 5. Upon the effectivity of this Act, all pending cases, except those which
have been submitted for resolution, shall be referred to the proper division of the Court of
Appeals.
Section 6. Nothing in this Act shall be construed to allow the transfer, except in cases
of temporary assignment, of any member of the Court of Appeals to any place or station
without his or her written consent, or to undermine the security of tenure of its members as
provided in the Constitution, or alter the seniority in said Court in accordance with existing
laws.
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Section 8. Separability Clause. -If any portion or provision of this Act is declared
unconstitutional,  the remainder of this Act  or any provision not affected thereby  shall
remain in force and effect.
Section 9. Repealing Clause. - All laws, presidential decrees, letters of instruction
executive orders, rules and regulations, or a part thereof inconsistent with the provisions of
this Act are hereby repealed or modified accordingly.
Section 10. Effectivity. - This Act shall take effect after fifteen ( 15) days following
its publication in two (2) newspapers of general circulation.
Approved,
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