ADVERTISEMENT
Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider SC to act swiftly on proposal for Sandiganbayan to expedite resolution of cases in flood control mess

SC to act swiftly on proposal for Sandiganbayan to expedite resolution of cases in flood control mess

Published Oct 22, 2025 04:05 pm
Chief Justice Alexander G. Gesmundo on Wednesday, Oct. 22, said the Supreme Court (SC) will review and act immediately on whatever recommendations the Sandiganbayan may propose to expedite the trial of cases that may be filed in the anomalous flood control projects.
Earlier, Sandiganbayan Presiding Justice Geraldine Faith A. Econg had said that the anti-graft court is eying to conduct marathon hearings on the flood control cases to render a decision in less than a year.
Ombudsman Jesus Crispin C. Remulla also said that his office is considering the expedition of the evaluation of the complaints to just 48 hours, and the fact-finding and preliminary investigation to just 60 days each to avoid the dismissal of the charges due to inordinate delay.
Already, five or six cases involving flood control projects are now set for preliminary investigation by the Office of the Ombudsman (OMB).
Chief Justice Gesmundo’s reaction to Presiding Justice Econg’s statement was aired during the sidelines of the SC meeting at The Manila Hotel with various stakeholders and development partners in the assessment of the gains achieved for the third year of the five-year Strategic Plan for Judicial Innovations (SPJI) that was launched in October 2022.
Also, during the meeting on SPJI, Senior Associate Justice Marvic M.V.F. Leonen said there were halls of justice built by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) with contractors named in the anomalous flood control projects.
Justice Leonen said that Associate Justice Samuel H. Gaerlan is now looking into the projects done by the “listed contractors.”
On the SPJI, Gesmundo said the program is already halfway and “yet still so much to be done.”
He told the justice stakeholders and development partners that most of the activities undertaken in the past year – Oct. 14, 2024 to Oct. 14, 2025 – involved gradual technological integration into court processes and operations to achieve the ultimate goal of delivering real-time and responsive justice in the digital age.
He said the SC is exploring potential partnership of Anycase.ai, an artificial intelligence driven legal research platform which aims to improve the speed and accuracy of legal research by automatically summarizing jurisprudence, statutes and legal documents.
He also said that through a Proof of Concept (POC), access to Anycase.ai was provided to 40 SC personnel who were able to navigate the platform and conducted legal searches using the native language, and expected answers with legal citations.
Thus, he said both the SC and Anycase.ai are both determining the next steps in line with the SPJI’s objective of improving the speed and quality of legal research.
The adoption of the two technologies -- Scriptix and Anycase.ai -- is envisioned to support the SC’s goal of expediting the disposition of cases and enhancing overall judicial efficiency, he added.
However, the Chief Justice cautioned that while the SC is “leveraging technological advancements to improve the delivery of judicial services, the Court is mindful of the potential risks they present to the institutional integrity and viability of the Judiciary.”
He assured: “The SC is already addressing concerns regarding the inherent limitations and flaws of these new technologies. We cannot compromise confidentiality and data privacy. We cannot abdicate our duty to safeguard and protect the integrity of the administration of justice to technology providers and experts.”
He explained that the SC decided “on a phased integration of transformative tools into court operations and processes while we seek appropriate measures to ensure that technological adoption will not undermine judicial integrity.”
At the same time, Chief Justice Gesmundo said the SC has started drafting an AI Governance Framework for ethical and effective integration of artificial intelligence in judicial operations and management.
The framework, he said, “will be guided by the principles of reliability, transparency, accountability, fairness, and non-discrimination.”
The SPJI 2022-2027 was launched to address institutional challenges using four guiding principles: the Judiciary’s delivery of justice will be timely and fair, transparent and accountable, equal and inclusive, and technology adaptive.
During the launch, Chief Justice Gesmundo said the SPJI targets three major outcomes – “efficiency, innovation, and access.”
He pointed out that the SPJI is the product of the collective efforts of all the 15 SC justices who have all equally invested in the SPJI and guaranteed the program’s continuity.
ADVERTISEMENT
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1561_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1562_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1563_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}

{{ articles_filter_1564_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.mb-article-details { position: relative; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview, .mb-article-details .article-body-summary{ font-size: 17px; line-height: 30px; font-family: "Libre Caslon Text", serif; color: #000; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview iframe , .mb-article-details .article-body-summary iframe{ width: 100%; margin: auto; } .read-more-background { background: linear-gradient(180deg, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0) 13.75%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0.8) 30.79%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000) 72.5%); position: absolute; height: 200px; width: 100%; bottom: 0; display: flex; justify-content: center; align-items: center; padding: 0; } .read-more-background a{ color: #000; } .read-more-btn { padding: 17px 45px; font-family: Inter; font-weight: 700; font-size: 18px; line-height: 16px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; border: 1px solid black; background-color: white; } .hidden { display: none; }
function initializeAllSwipers() { // Get all hidden inputs with cms_article_id document.querySelectorAll('[id^="cms_article_id_"]').forEach(function (input) { const cmsArticleId = input.value; const articleSelector = '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .body_images'; const swiperElement = document.querySelector(articleSelector); if (swiperElement && !swiperElement.classList.contains('swiper-initialized')) { new Swiper(articleSelector, { loop: true, pagination: false, navigation: { nextEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-next', prevEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-prev', }, }); } }); } setTimeout(initializeAllSwipers, 3000); const intersectionObserver = new IntersectionObserver( (entries) => { entries.forEach((entry) => { if (entry.isIntersecting) { const newUrl = entry.target.getAttribute("data-url"); if (newUrl) { history.pushState(null, null, newUrl); let article = entry.target; // Extract metadata const author = article.querySelector('.author-section').textContent.replace('By', '').trim(); const section = article.querySelector('.section-info ').textContent.replace(' ', ' '); const title = article.querySelector('.article-title h1').textContent; // Parse URL for Chartbeat path format const parsedUrl = new URL(newUrl, window.location.origin); const cleanUrl = parsedUrl.host + parsedUrl.pathname; // Update Chartbeat configuration if (typeof window._sf_async_config !== 'undefined') { window._sf_async_config.path = cleanUrl; window._sf_async_config.sections = section; window._sf_async_config.authors = author; } // Track virtual page view with Chartbeat if (typeof pSUPERFLY !== 'undefined' && typeof pSUPERFLY.virtualPage === 'function') { try { pSUPERFLY.virtualPage({ path: cleanUrl, title: title, sections: section, authors: author }); } catch (error) { console.error('ping error', error); } } // Optional: Update document title if (title && title !== document.title) { document.title = title; } } } }); }, { threshold: 0.1 } ); function showArticleBody(button) { const article = button.closest("article"); const summary = article.querySelector(".article-body-summary"); const body = article.querySelector(".article-body-preview"); const readMoreSection = article.querySelector(".read-more-background"); // Hide summary and read-more section summary.style.display = "none"; readMoreSection.style.display = "none"; // Show the full article body body.classList.remove("hidden"); } document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", () => { let loadCount = 0; // Track how many times articles are loaded const offset = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]; // Offset values const currentUrl = window.location.pathname.substring(1); let isLoading = false; // Prevent multiple calls if (!currentUrl) { console.log("Current URL is invalid."); return; } const sentinel = document.getElementById("load-more-sentinel"); if (!sentinel) { console.log("Sentinel element not found."); return; } function isSentinelVisible() { const rect = sentinel.getBoundingClientRect(); return ( rect.top < window.innerHeight && rect.bottom >= 0 ); } function onScroll() { if (isLoading) return; if (isSentinelVisible()) { if (loadCount >= offset.length) { console.log("Maximum load attempts reached."); window.removeEventListener("scroll", onScroll); return; } isLoading = true; const currentOffset = offset[loadCount]; window.loadMoreItems().then(() => { let article = document.querySelector('#widget_1690 > div:nth-last-of-type(2) article'); intersectionObserver.observe(article) loadCount++; }).catch(error => { console.error("Error loading more items:", error); }).finally(() => { isLoading = false; }); } } window.addEventListener("scroll", onScroll); });
Join Our Newsletters

Sign up by email to receive news.

© 2025 Manila Bulletin The Nation's Leading Newspaper. All Rights Reserved.