The Supreme Court (SC) paid tribute to the ‘most crucial work” of the judiciary’s clerks of courts and other personnel who are the “first contacts of the public” in the administration of justice.

In his keynote address during the 13^th National Convention of the Judicial Court Clerks Association of the Philippines, Inc. (JCCAP), Chief Justice Alexander G. Gesmundo said “those people working in the trial courts are the most crucial in the administration of justice.”

“You are the first contact of people transacting in the courts regarding their cases” such that trial court employees of whatever rank or position “must be able to reflect the kind of judicial service that we want to give our people.”

Gesmundo emphasized that “if the people are dissatisfied in their first contact with the trial court, it reflects on us.”

The JCCAP, formerly known as the Judiciary Association of Clerks of the Philippines or JACOPHIL, is the association of 3,966 judiciary clerks from all judicial regions nationwide.

In his message, Chief Justice Gesmundo also highlighted the importance of the SC’s five-year Strategic Plan for Judicial Innovations (SPJI) with reforms to dispense justice “efficiently, effectively, and timely.”

The SPJI is the SC’s “modern approach as part of agile ways of working to properly manage the transition and quickly adjust and adapt to change” so that “once and for all, the Judiciary must deliver its services, both adjudicative and administrative, real time.”

Gesmundo told the clerks of courts and other personnel: “We cannot overemphasize that the SPJI is necessary to reinvigorate and retool the judicial system. The Court must consistently be proactive and continuously innovate especially at this time of greater uncertainties and challenges.”

He assured the JCCAP members that the institution of reforms in the courts means ensuring everyone’s progress.

“These innovations are not meant to supplant us, but to support us, to empower us to unleash our potential for more effective and more meaningful work,” he stressed.

He also said: “We are transforming our processes not simply to tinker with them, but to free those who work in the judiciary from the shackles of bureaucracy that limit their productivity, so that they may be empowered to lead happier and healthier lives. Our reforms are as much for all the women and men of the judiciary as they are for the public we serve.”

Also with Chief Justice Gesmundo during the JCCAP convention were SC Associate Justices Jhosep Y. Lopez, Jose Midas P. Marquez, and Antonio

T. Kho, Jr.

Also present were Deputy Court Administrator Leo T. Madrazo, Assistant Court Administrator (ACA) Lilian C. Barribal-Co, ACA Maria Regina Adoracion Filomena M. Ignacio, ACA and Public Information Office Chief Brian Keith F. Hosaka, and Deputy Clerk of Court and Chief Technology Officer Jed Sherwin G. Uy.

Justice Marquez received a Special Recognition Award from the JCCAP “for his full and constant support to the JCCAP” as court administrator then and now as a member of the SC.

During the program, ACA Barribal-Co gave a presentation on the four canons of the Code of Conduct for Court Personnel, which applies to all personnel in the judiciary who are not Justices or judges; while ACA Ignacio discussed the various circulars and issuances of the SC relating to court proceedings during the pandemic.

Atty. Jul-Ahmad J. Gaspar, assistant chief of the SC’s Management Information Systems Office, concluded the event by providing an overview of the innovations the judiciary is undertaking through E-Court technology.