Family Court gets two laptops from the city

CEBU - The Cebu City government approved the request of Judge Raphael Yrastorza Jr. for two laptop computers for him to speed up the resolution of about 1,000 cases now pending at his sala.

Yrastorza is the presiding judge of Regional Trial Court Branch 14, a Family Court tasked to hear the cases involving women and children. Being a special court, it has more cases than the regular court branches.

The judge explained that despite the fast disposition of cases in his court branch, the volume of family cases filed everyday is greater.

Yrastorza said he will use one of the laptops while the other will be used by clerk of court Aurora Peñaflor who assists in the disposition of cases.

“Having easily accessible computers will help us maximize our time in resolving cases so that even during seminars or at home, we can still continue working on our case loads,” the judge told the mayor.

Mayor Tomas Osmeña already approved the request, prompting Councilor Hilario Davide III to sponsor a resolution for the appropriation of P120,000 for the said items.

Davide said the public is aware of the logistical problems faced by the courts in Cebu City. One of the problems is the lack of computers which continues to hamper work in courts.

Some councilors suggested that the donations should be coursed through to the court’s property custodian so that it will be recorded as government property before turning them over to Yrastorza and his clerk of court.

“Maayo man g’yod nga masiguro nga ang gi-donate nga laptop gikan sa City Hall magamit gihapon kun dili na si Yrastorza ang huwes sa Branch 14. Sagad ra ba g’yod nga mahitabo nga ma-personalized na lang ang mga donation,” a councilor said. –Rene U. Borromeo/BRP (THE FREEMAN)