The Supreme Court (SC) has asked the assistance of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) for the construction of new courts, including the Court of Appeals (CA) in Cebu City and in Cagayan de Oro City buildings.
SC acting Chief Justice Antonio Carpio said that the high court had already created an oversight committee that would oversee the construction of the two CA buildings and the Manila Hall of Justice.
The oversight committee is headed by SC Associate Justices Teresita Leonardo-De Castro and Jose Perez.
The executive justices of the CA in Cebu City and in Cagayan de Oro City will be part of the committee as well.
“Since the court does not have the in-house capability to manage the construction of the buildings of this size, we plan to engage the services of the DPWH to undertake the project management and the bidding of the contracts,” Carpio said in a statement.
The construction of the three buildings pushed through after the SC allocated P2.383 billion out of its P2.5-billion savings.
The SC has allocated P1.865 billion for the construction of the Manila Hall of Justice, which is composed of 120 Regional and Metropolitan Trial Courts, while P266.950 million and P251.270 million have been allocated for the construction of the CA building in Cebu City and in Cagayan de Oro City, respectively.
This is on top of the total of P80 million previously set aside in 2004.
The CA rents buildings for its offices in the cities of Cebu and Cagayan de Oro.
The SC has been requesting for a P3-billion budget since 2010 from the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) but has been turned down.
The old Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) building located at the corner of Gat. Antonio Villegas and Concepcion Aguila Streets in Manila will be the site of the Manila Hall of Justice.
The CA in Cebu City will be constructed at a 7,123-square-meter lot donated by the Cebu City government to the SC.
The Halls of Justice are buildings constructed under the Justice System Infrastructure Program (JUSIP), an offshoot of Administrative Order No. 99 issued in 1988 by then President Corazon Aquino, the mother of President Noynoy Aquino.