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Let’s hope this speeds up things.
“Cases lodged at the Sandiganbayan are now expected to be acted on faster after President Benigno Aquino III signed into law Republic Act (RA) 10660, which amended and strengthened Sandiganbayan’s function and structure,” reports Philippines News Agency on InterAksyon.com.
RA 10660 is otherwise known as “An Act Strengthening Further for Functional and Structural Organization of the Sandiganbayan, Further Amending Presidential Decree No. 1606 as Amended and Appropriating Funds Therefore.”
In a briefing held on Tue, Apr 21, Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Abigail Valte said that RA 10660 increased the anti-graft court’s divisions from five to seven.
The amended law also lowered the number of justices to two from three for a session in each division to have a quorum.
The report noted: “Valte said the two additional divisions, which will still have three justices each, will surely unload cases being handled by the three current divisions.”
Moreover, as the report indicated, “the amended law also states that the budget for the hiring of additional justices and staff will come from the special court’s current appropriation.”
Valte stated, “And that, hopefully, will result in the faster disposition of cases that are pending before the Sandiganbayan.”
According to Valte, “there are still no appointments for the newly-opened positions.” However, she explained that “the President will immediately consider people once a shortlist has been submitted to him.”
