High-tech justice hall makes Puno feel younger

MANILA, Philippines - Chief Justice Reynato Puno felt 10 years younger when he stood inside a state-of- the-art courtroom in the new Valenzuela Hall of Justice yesterday.

Speaking at the inauguration of the new hall of justice, Puno said: “ When I enter this building I feel 10 years younger.”

Puno said the modern equipment and the air-conditioned courtrooms will give judges “no more reason for your decisions to be reversed.”

He said the sorry state of halls of justice nationwide has affected the delivery of justice, particularly in key cities.

In some places, judges and prosecutors spend their personal funds to fix leaking roofs in courtrooms to continue performing their duties, he added.

Mobile courtrooms as part of the Supreme Court’s Justice on Wheels program travel to various parts of the country to dispense with court cases and remedy the situation, Puno said.

Valenzuela Mayor Sherwin Gatchalian said the new hall of justice was the old city hall that the city government renovated.

The delivery of services to the people can be made effective through a partnership between the executive and judicial branches, he added.  – Perseus Echeminada