The Regional Trial Courts in Negros Oriental sentenced Thursday 18 detention prisoners who are facing criminal charges in different salas, in compliance to Supreme Court Office of the Court Administrator memorandum circular No. 204-2015 for all courts in the entire country to render judgment on that day.
Now on its 2nd year of implementation, the National Judgment Day was able to decongest the country’s crowded jails and expedited the resolution of cases.
Under the Judgment Day program, ordered released are detainees who have served the possible prison terms of their offenses even before the court could hand down the decision of their cases.
At RTC Branch 30 presided by Judge Crescencio Tan, Jr., four were sentenced to life imprisonment, three others received a maximum of 14 years and one was sentenced to a maximum of one year, all for violation of RA 9165, otherwise known as the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.
RTC Branch 41 and RTC Branch 40 under Executive Judge Gerardo Paguio Jr. contributed five decisions, one for rape, two for homicide and three for violation of RA 9287, an act increasing the penalties for illegal numbers game called swertres.
Three other cases were promulgated by RTC branch 38 presiding Judge Voltaire Cenon Repollo, for estafa, violation of Section 3 of RA 3019 and direct bribery in violation of Art. 210 of the Revised Penal Code against a lawyer.
While at RTC Branch 33 under presiding Judge Fe Lualhati Bustamante, promulgation of judgment was rendered against a person accused of qualified theft.
According to Judge Tan, this is a sort of a wake up call for the courts to resolve cases with dispatch as well as declog court dockets. But said there is no sanction when courts fail to render judgment on judgment day. (PNA)