KIKO: JELACC IS AN EXPEDITIOUS AND EFFICIENT MEANS TO DEAL WITH CERTAIN PROBLEMS OF THE JUDICIARY SUCH AS CLOGGING OF THE DOCKETS

Related statistics from the Supreme Court on case backlog reflect the apparent need for additional judges and public lawyers.

Preliminary research shows that as of November 2006, 748,102 cases are pending before the Court of Appeals and lower courts, Senate Majority Leader Francis Pangilinan today reported.

The Supreme Court, on the one hand, has to resolve or decide 6,297 cases, as of October 2006.

'Numbers do not lie. Cases keep on piling up, year after year. In the Regional Trial Courts, for instance, more than 10,000 cases were filed in a span of 10 months, from January to October of 2006. We have to address this issue, or the clogging of the dockets will continue, to the detriment of the speedy dispensation of justice,' Kiko said.

Kiko sees the recently convened Judicial Executive Legislative Advisory Council (JELAC) as one of the measures to address this concern.

JELACC is an expeditious and efficient means to deal with certain problems of the Judiciary such as clogging of the dockets. The bureaucratic process will be facilitated. Sa dulo kasi na problemang ito, ang publiko ang naiinip at nababagalan. Sila ang nawawalan ng tiwala sa batas, na sana ay tatakbuhan nila." Kiko quipped.