Davao City is the third city to institutionalize the Justice Zone Ordinance following the City Council’s approval on the third and final reading of the proposed “resolution to enact an ordinance institutionalizing the Davao City Justice Zone towards coordinated justice sector actions to enable access to justice” on Tuesday.
Proposed by Councilor Lorenzo Benjamin D. Villafuerte, Davao City Justice Zones finds it important to operationalize its programs such as the Davao City Swift Justice Program which seeks to improve efficiency in the administration of justice, address issues in the justice system such as clogged dockets and ensuring that all pillars of the justice system work together to promote justice by disposing cases expeditiously, which will greatly benefit Davao City and the Dabawenyos.
“The Davao City Justice Zone Ordinance is an ordinance institutionalizing the Davao City Justice Zone. This is part of the Philippine Development Plan of 2023-2028 for the establishment and strengthening mechanisms to improve justice sector efficiency and accountability,” Villafuerte,, chair of the Committee on Civil, Political, and Human Rights, said during the Aprubado sa Konseho media briefing.
Villafuerte said presently, there are already 16 established justice zones nationwide, and of the 16 justice zones there are only two that were institutionalized through an ordinance and Davao City is the third to be institutionalized.
Villafuerte said the goal of Davao City Justice Zone is to tackle issues in the justice sector like the backlog in resolving cases, congestion of jails, and the need to strengthen the implementation of barangay justice system and programs for Persons Deprived of Liberty (PDLs).
He said it is also one of the goals of the Davao City Justice Zone to strengthen the implementation of the barangay justice system and one of the approaches is to train the Lupong Tagapamayapa.
“The Lupong Tagapamayapa kay sila man ang key persons when it comes to delivering justice in the barangay. Kinahanglan nila ug additional training. Ang mga Lupong Tagapamayapa ang maghusay within sa community nila,” he said.
For the PDLs, Villafuerte said programs through the Davao Justice Zone, can help them be integrated back into society.
“Kay ang problema kung former PDL ka maglisod ka ug kuha ug trabaho dapat naa tay reintegration programs to address that problem,” he said.
Villafuerte said a P3.5 million allocation was approved for the implementation of the various programs under the Davao City Justice Zone Ordinance.
The composition of the Davao City Justice Zone includes the Executive Judge of the Davao City Regional Trial Court as the convenor; the city government of Davao such as the Committee Chair on Civil, political, and Human Rights; the City Legal Office; City Anti Drug Abuse Council; City Planning and Development Office; and City Health Office (CHO).
