Province Seeks President Aquino’s Help on P1-B Fund for New Courthouse

The Cebu Provincial Board (PB) on Monday unanimously passed a resolution formally requesting President Benigno Aquino III to allocate funds for the construction of a new Palace of Justice in Cebu.

Earlier, Senate President Franklin Drilon told Cebu Governor Hilario Davide III and other Capitol officials to ask President Aquino to include in the 2015 national budget the P500-million initial funding for the Hall of Justice estimated to cost P1 billion.

The resolution, sponsored by Vice Governor Agnes Magpale and all PB Members, said the provincial government is willing to donate a lot to the Supreme Court for the construction of a new Palace of Justice.

“However, the project may only be realized if sufficient funds will be allocated for the purpose,” read the approved PB resolution.

Drilon had pledged to help include P1 billion in the national budget in the next two years.

He advised Capitol officials to prioritize the funding request and decide on the location, detailed engineering plans and design later. Drilon also said the request has to reach Malacañang before Congress convenes on July 28.

The executive department is required to submit the proposed budget to Congress within 30 days after Congress convenes, he said.

Drilon said that if the appropriation for the Cebu Hall of Justice is not included in the budget call and in the President’s budget for 2015, there can be no appropriation in 2015 and the province has to wait for 2016 before it can start the construction of the Hall of Justice.

Drilon, a former justice secretary, assured Davide of his support for the project.

The provincial government earlier offered the Capitol-owned lot in M. Velez street where the Department of Agriculture-7 offices were located, as well as a site in Barangay Kalunasan.

The Chief Justice Marcelo B. Fernan Hall of Justice inside the Cebu Capitol compound was rendered unfit for occupancy following the 7.2 magnitude earthquake in October last year.

The building formerly houses 22 branches of the Regional Trial Court and eight branches of the Municipal Trial Court in Cities Judges, Clerks of Courts; regional, provincial and city prosecutors, Parole and Probation Office and the Public Attorneys’ Office.

Court trials were held in makeshift courts under tents at the building’s parking lot after it was declared unsafe.

The Supreme Court last month ordered the transfer of all courts to the Quimonda IT Center in the North Reclamation Area, Cebu City. (PNA) LAP/EB