THE Iloilo provincial government and the Judiciary meet to discuss potential sites for a new Hall of Justice outside Iloilo City. (Iloilo Capitol PIO)
ILOILO CITY – The town of Dumangas in Iloilo province is being eyed as a site for an extension of the Iloilo Hall of Justice.
The Iloilo provincial government and the Supreme Court are looking at potential sites for a judicial complex that will house the Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 6-Family Court, RTC Branch 68, and the Municipal Trial Court (MTC).
This came as new structural concerns appeared at the existing Hall of Justice in a property owned by the Iloilo provincial government in Iloilo City.
It closed a few times and offices kept on relocating to temporary sites due to a series of strong earthquakes since last year.
Iloilo fourth district Board Member Rolando Distura and Provincial Legal Officer Dennis Ventilacion met Judge Jennie Ann Logronio, regional court manager, to discuss potential sites in Dumangas. One of them was the Don Bosco Boys' Home and Training Center in Barangay Tabucan.
Last year, Gov. Arthur Defensor Jr. met the Judiciary and one of the potential sites identified was in New Lucena town.
The current Hall of Justice was opened in 1992. In 2012, courts
temporarily moved to a defunct college campus after a P5-million retrofitting was conducted at the Hall of Justice following damage sustained from an earthquake that year.