Chief Justice Alexander G. Gesmundo has extolled the country’s judges for the continuing increase since 2021 in the rate of disposition of cases filed before the more than 2,700 trial courts.

Based on reports submitted by the Supreme Court’s (SC) Office of the Court Administrator (OCA), case disposition rate in the first-level courts rose from 53 percent in 2021 to 60 percent in 2022 and to 61 percent in 2023.

First level courts are the municipal trial courts (MTCs), municipal circuit trial courts (MCTCs), metropolitan trial courts (MeTCs), and municipal trial courts in cities (MTCCs).

Case disposition in the second-level courts – the regional trial courts (RTCs) – rose from 32 percent in 2021, 39 percent in 2022, and 42 percent in 2023.

The SC said case disposition rate is computed by dividing the total number of decided, resolved, and archived cases by the total number of pending and newly filed cases, multiplied by 100.

The increasing case disposition rate by trial courts was tackled during the 19th national convention and election of officers of the Philippine Association of Court Employees (PACE) last May 2.  Chief Justice Gesmundo was the keynote speaker.

In his speech, Gesmundo expressed the SC’s gratitude to court employees for their contributions as the judiciary’s frontliners.

“You are the first point of contact between our institution and the people who come to us in search of justice…. Whatever your rank or position may be, the work that you do, day in and day out, is the best reflection of the kind of justice that we dispense, and of the quality of service that we provide,” he told the employees.

He also thanked them for serving as partners in the SC’s pursuit of reform through the Strategic Plan for Judicial Innovations 2022-2027 (SPJI), including in the ongoing nationwide caravan for the Pilot Implementation of the Office of the Regional Court Manager (ORCM), one of the modernization projects under the OCA.

The SC is set to hire a court manager in every judicial region to unburden trial court judges of their administrative duties so they can devote more time to deciding cases filed before their courts.

Also with Chief Justice during the convention were Senior Associate Justice Marvic M.V.F. Leonen, Associate Justice Jose Midas P. Marquez, and Court Administrator Raul B. Villanueva, who also gave their inspirational messages.

The SC’s public information office (PIO) said that Senior Associate Justice Leonen encouraged the court employees to work hard and be patient despite challenges, “as excellence does not come in an instant.”

The PIO said Justice Marquez expressed appreciation to PACE, especially its officers, with whom the he worked with for 12 years when he served as court administrator before his promotion as SC justice.

Court Administrator Villanueva commended PACE’s officers and members for their role in the faster resolution of cases in the lower courts. He also reminded them to continue to work together to see to it that the SPJI succeeds and is carried out to full completion.

Also present during the convention were Manila Vice Mayor Yul Servo, on behalf of Manila Mayor Honey Lacuna, Deputy Court Administrator Jenny Lind R. Aldecoa-Delorino and SC Spokesperson Camille Sue Mae L. Ting.

Chief Justice Gesmundo, Senior Associate Justice Leonen, and Justice Marquez later dropped by at the convention’s second venue at the Manila Hotel to personally greet PACE members.

PACE is the umbrella association of first- and second-level court employees in the judiciary. The theme for this year’s two-day convention is “Empowering Court Employees and Supporting Judicial Reform through the Strategic Plan for Judicial Innovations,” the PIO said.