OCA’s obvious lack of common sense escapes SC

We are glad to know that the Supreme Court is serious in instilling discipline in the ranks of the judiciary (“SC: No need for direct evidence to sack corrupt judges,” Front Page, 12/4/14). “So long as there is direct evidence that the canons of judicial conduct had been violated, the likelihood of dismissal is already there,” deputy court administrator Raul Villanueva said. It’s not only for corruption, but for misconduct as well.

But the Office of the Court Administrator (OCA) itself seems to be sleeping on its job. There have been countless complaints against trial judges who are “bulakbol”—they are always late, coming to court way past 9 or 10 o’clock in the morning instead of the regulatory 8 o’clock. In their courts, nothing much gets done on any given day. What a waste of everybody’s time, efforts and resources. Is docket congestion still a surprise?

In most cases, such complaints come from disgruntled lawyers who prefer to go anonymous—for obvious reasons.   Not only are they furious over being made to wait for hours; they are in fact heeding the Supreme Court’s call for them to help speed up the delivery of justice. But the OCA routinely ignores them as no more than finks unless they identify themselves properly and put their grievances under oath! Hello? Anybody home?

Is it too difficult for the OCA to send someone to spy on the courts in question (in Metro Manila for starters) and see firsthand if the complaints have any basis? Sometimes the solutions to complex problems require only common sense!

—GABRIELLE M.M. AGUILLERA,

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