Chief Justice Alexander G. Gesmundo, Justice Secretary Menardo I. Guevarra and Local Government Secretary Eduardo M. Año will launch in Baguio City on Friday, June 24, the country’s ninth Justice Zone (JZ).
The JZs are projects of the Justice Sector Coordinating Council (JSCC). They are areas “where key programs relating to the delivery of justice are in place to maximize coordination among the different agency actors to address the perennial issue of delay and the greater problem of accountability.”
The JSCC is composed of the Supreme Court (SC), Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG).
It was created on April 30, 2010 “to serve as a joint forum for dialogue on issues of common interest and mechanism for effective coordination and sharing of information in support of planning and implementation of joint initiatives among justice sector institutions specifically the SC, the DOJ, and the DILG.”
The Baguio City JZ, to be launched at 10 a.m. at the Baguio Convention Center, will be Chief Justice Gesmundo’s second JZ launching since he assumed as head of the judiciary on April 5, 2021. His first JZ was launched in Balanga City in Bataan.
The seven other JZs are in Quezon City, Cebu City, Davao City, Angeles City, Bacolod City, Naga City, and Calamba City.
Also expected to attend the launching are SC Associate Justice Jose Midas P. Marquez, Court Administrator Raul B. Villanueva, Court of Appeals Associate Justices Jaime Fortunato A. Caringal and Jose Lorenzo R. Dela Rosa, Baguio City Mayor Benjamin B. Magalong, and other court and Baguio City officials.