📋 Tender Overview
The Supreme Court, through the Interim Planning and Development Office (IPDO), held the third leg of its Pilot Implementation of the Office of the Regional Court Manager (ORCM) caravan in Butuan City, Agusan del Norte on April 19, 2024, where IPDO representatives consulted with the judges and clerks of court, and encouraged them to apply for positions in the ORCM this time in the Tenth Judicial Region.
The Tenth Judicial Region includes Agusan del Norte, Agusan del Sur, Bukidnon, Camiguin, Misamis Occidental, Misamis Oriental, Surigao del Norte, Butuan City, Cagayan de Oro City, Gingoog City, Ozamiz City, Oroquieta City, Surigao City, and Tangub City.
Chief Justice Alexander G. Gesmundo and Associate Justice Maria Filomena D. Singh delivered their messages through video.
The Chief Justice reiterated that the ORCM shall decentralize and improve the delivery of administrative services to first- and second-level courts by establishing regional offices across judicial regions which will be empowered to directly resolve many of the judges’ administrative concerns.
Through the ORCM, the OCA will devolve some of its key functions to the regional court managers, who will be directly communicating with the court branches within its region, and vice-versa. The ORCM will be given the authority to sign off on administrative and fiscal matters, and to deliver multiple services directly to the courts. As such, the ORCM will allow OCA to devote more of its time and resources in ensuring that the ORCM are attending to their functions and that courts are primarily focused on their adjudication performance.
Chief Justice Gesmundo stressed that the decentralization of administrative services in the trial courts is aligned with the Strategic Plan for Judicial Innovations 2022-2027 (SPJI), the Court’s blueprint of action for judicial reform, which aims to achieve efficiency, innovation and access in the judiciary. He added that the new set-up will optimize and harmonize the administrative processes involved, and consequently, ease the administrative workload of the executive judges.
Justice Maria Singh said that “the ORCM holds immense potential in streamlining court operations, improvement of case disposition, and ultimately, the delivery of real-time and responsive justice to the people we serve.” She stressed that the ORCM is “a significant addition to the remarkable list of SPJI achievements.”
She said that the Court is “taking a critical step towards achieving a more efficient, innovative, and accessible Judiciary,” stressing that “there is much work to be done” and that the Judiciary needs everyone’s support and help in the ongoing judicial reform projects.
For his part, Court Administrator Raul B. Villanueva reiterated his call for everyone to help make the creation of the ORCMs nationwide a resounding success, and to consider a career in the ORCM. He added that the recruitment for ORCM positions is ongoing.
“Let me make the clarion call for those who share the OCA’s mission and, more importantly, the Supreme Court’s vision, to seriously consider a career in the ORCM as a Regional Court Manager, which has a Salary Grade 29, or as Assistant Regional Court Manager, which has a Salary Grade 27, or to hold other vital positions in the ORCM, such as the Regional Administrative Services Officer, the Regional Financial Management Officer, and the Regional Hall of Justice Officer. The recruitment is open as early as now,” he said.
A presentation on the current and proposed processes of the ORCM was shared to the participnats, followed by group and plenary discussions, and a dialogue between the Supreme Court IPDO, led Atty. Antonio Ceasar R. Manila of the Office of the Chief Justice, and the judges and clerks of courts who participated in the caravan. Atty. Manila was joined in the panel by Atty. Ingrid Gorre, Atty. Carol Mercado, and Mr. Roland Ruiz, of the European Union – Governance in Justice Programme (GOJUST II).
After Butuan City, Angeles City, Pampanga, and San Fernando, La Union, the other legs of the caravan will be held in Davao City (April 26), Metro Cebu (May 10), and Ormoc City (May 24).
