Cebu City donates land to SC for judiciary complex

The Cebu City government has donated a 1.5-hectare property to the Supreme Court (SC) for the construction of a complex that will house several courts and facilities for the judiciary.

The local government donated the property in exchange for a 7,123-square meter lot it earlier gave the SC that was intended to be the site for the Court of Appeals (CA) Cebu City station, the Court's Public Information Office (PIO) said.

Court Administrator Jose Midas Marquez and Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña signed the Deed of Donation on Wednesday.

The judiciary complex envisioned to stand in the newly-donated land will include the CA Cebu City station, the city's regional and municipal trial courts, hearing rooms of the Sandiganbayan, a training center for judges and court personnel in the Visayas, and the Office of the Deputy Court Administrator for the Visayas, the PIO said.

The construction of the city's Hall of Justice will start as soon as possible, said Chief Justice Lucas Bersamin, who attended the deed signing.

Bersamin thanked the city government for the donation, saying it will provide more working space for court employees and make the courts more accessible to litigants.

He acknowledged that previous chief justices had worked with the local government and the Court Administrator regarding the complex site, "but the fulfillment of all their hard work has thankfully landed on me."

"I consider myself the lucky man who gets to announce this acceptance of donation and to witness the actual signing of the Deed of Donation," he was quoted by the PIO as saying.

The Court recently bought a P1-billion property in Taguig City for the construction of a new SC complex. The current SC building in Padre Faura, Manila sits on land owned by the University of the Philippines. —KBK, GMA News