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Speech delivered by Chief Justice Maria Lourdes P. A. Sereno during the 3rd Congress of the COSTRAPHIL on November 26, 2015 at the CityState Tower Hotel, Manila

Mga kaibigan ko, maaari na po sana tayo maupo. Congratulations, Ms.

Belinda G. Go, COSTRAPHIL (Court Stenographers Association of the

Philippines) National President, and Atty. Laura Velasco, President of the

COSTRAPHIL. Okay lang ba ginawa ko na kayong Attorney, by acclamation?

Hindi ko nga ho alam kasi kung Attorney sila o hindi so baka magkamali ako,

mas mabuti pang magkamali ako, pinromote ko sila, tama po ba? Anyway, hindi

naman ho legally binding iyong sinabi ko. (everyone laughs)

Magandang umaga po. Nakakatuwa ito, parang ang nangyari dito ay

hindi ko po alam na kayo ay mag sisiksikan sa isang lugar upang magsama

sama para sa araw na ito at sa Kongreso ninyo, which is the 3rd Congress of the

Court Stenographers Association of the Philippines. So I don’t know, mas gusto

ninyo po ba ako na magsalita sa Ingles o sa Tagalog? Sabihin ninyo po. (Crowd

shouts Tagalog) Oh, sinabi ko sa inyo eh, isang bansa, isang wika talaga tayo eh.

I-translate ko po ung ginawa nilang speech para sa akin, kasi ho hindi ba iyon

ang ginagawa ninyo araw araw? Oh tumutulong naman ho kayo ‘di ba? Kayo na

nga ho ang Stenographer, kayo pa ang Interpreter, minsan kayo pa ang Acting

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Clerk of Court, di ba po? Kayo na rin minsan ang Legal Researcher, di pa po? So

hindi ko nga ho alam talaga anong itatawag ko sa inyo: Stenographer ba talaga

kayo, Legal Researcher, Interpreter, Clerk of Court, kayo po halo-halo, the

multitasking court stenographers of the NCJR (National Capital Judicial

Region).

Masaya po ako ngayong araw kasi nakikita ko po na gaya po ng

maraming sistema sa Pilipinas, nakikita ho natin ang paghinog ng kagandahan

ng reporma sa hudikatura ngayon. At kasama ho kayo talaga, kayo ay key

element sa mga repormang nangyayari ngayon.

Alam ninyo ang pinagusapan lang dito ay ang ginagawa ninyo sa

pagdocument ng nangyayari sa hearing. The work that you are doing is a very

important part of the adjudication of justice. But we know that first of all,

there is not sufficient numbers of Stenographers that are being produced by

our system. And so you have actually — I was really touched when your

officers, who were part of the various Employees Associations that came to

me — told me that, “Chief, what are we going to do? We are a vanishing lot.

There are not as many Stenographers that are being produced as we would

have wanted.” And note this, I thought that there was an implicit message

hindi lang nila sinasabi na diretso sa Akin: at kung makapasok nga ho kami sa

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sistema, at iyon ang function namin, hindi ho naming nakikita ang pag-gabay o

pag-alalay sa aming trabaho — something that you had always wanted very

much. You wanted to feel that the work you were doing is very, very valuable.

Kumbaga, araw araw ho na gagawa kayo ng mga kailangang gawin sa korte,

kayo po ay gumagawa ng transcription ng hearing, kayo rin po ay tumutulong

sa pag interpret sa pag research, minsan Clerk of Court na nga rin po kayo. But

you wanted validation and affirmation that the work you were producing for

the justice system would really find itself in the chain of how justice was being

administered.

So marami ho kayong mga proposals na binasa ko na. May mga

proposals na i-upgrade ang Salary Grade ninyo. May proposals na taasan pa po

ang qualification standards kung maaari at dagdagan pa ho ang training ninyo.

So that you can really be functioning, multi-tasking personnel kasi alam

naman po natin ang reality sa courtroom hindi naman ho ang lahat ng

courtroom ninyo ang lahat ng staffing pattern — malimit ho ang ordinary

courtroom sa Pilipinas bungi-bungi ang personnel complement. That is why I

thought that I should even [attend] though it had been hinted to me that

usually Chief Justices do not attend the Congresses of Specialized Court

Employees Associations such as Sheriffs, Process Servers, Stenographers,

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Legal Researchers, I thought that it was important for me that I be here with

you today because I wanted to explain the heart of judicial reform.

Hindi ho tayo magkakaroon ng hustisya kung hindi ho kayo tutulong sa

paggawad ng hustisya — importante po iyong intindihin. Ang hustisya hindi

lang dahil mahusay ang huwes ninyo. At nandito po si [Court of Appeals] Justice

Zenaida T. Galapate-] Laguilles, kaibigang kaibigan ko siya sa ating pagsulong

ng mga reporma at si [Manila Metropolitan Trial Court Executive] Judge

[Glenda M.] Ramos nga rin po ay nandito. Masasabi po nila, malimit ko pong

marinig sa kanila na kung hindi napakagaling ng staff namin na inaalalayan

kami every part of the way, we would not be where we are today. They would

not be able to be the very notable Judge and Justice that they are known to be

today. Hindi ho sila mabubuo o matatatag sa kanilang posisyon kung hindi

ninyo ho sila tutulungan. Kaya’t mayroon pong kaakibat na responsibilidad ang

Korte Suprema at ang mga Huwes na tulungan po ang Court Stenographers. At

sasabihin ko ho kung paano natin tutulungan ang mga Court Stenographers at

ang lahat ng mga empleyado sa hudikatura sa buong bansa.

Unang-una po, kung pwede lang ho sanang pag pasensyahan ninyo ang

aking kwento ng isang salaysay na maaaring medyo may kaunting kahabaan,

pero pipilitin ko pong maging maikli lang ito. Hindi po kayo makakagawa ng

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inyong trabaho ng tama — alam ninyo po ‘di ba sa kaibuturan ng inyong puso

gusto ninyo ang ganda ganda ng trabaho ninyo — pero kung iyong mga

stenographer machines ninyo at iyong mga supplies ninyo ay wala at iyong

technology ay wala, eh paano ninyo naman magagawa iyon?

Pangalawa po, eh kung sobrang bungi-bungi nga iyong korte ninyo, eh

paano ho na nag mu-multi-tasking na nga kayo sa ginagawa ninyo, kalian

ninyo ho magagwa ang transcript of records ninyo, tama po ba?

At hindi po tama iyong mga haka-haka ng mga tao, usap usapan na

umaasa po kayo doon sa haba ng TSN (Transcript of Stenographic Notes) na

ginagawa ninyo at pinaguusapan ho iyon na parang pinagdududahan ho iyon

— hindi ho tama iyon, tama po ba? And dapat po bibigyan ng karampatang

pagkikilala ang mga Court Stenographers by upgrading the package of

compensation of all employees in the judiciary gets.

That is why I want to announce to you that since I sat, as you have

noticed, iyong atin pong mga inaasahang regular packages and benefits,

mabilis pong nagagawa na. Every month, within the first ten days of the

month, you should already have your COLA (Cost-of-Living Adjustment) and

you should be getting it on a regular basis. Ang hope ko if you are all going to

be with me in this, we will plug all loopholes that has been leading to financial

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leakages in the collection of legal fees. Malalaki ho iyong nahuhuli naming

leakages. Just imagine kung magtutulungan ho tayo, iyong COLA ninyo hula ko

lalaki ng lalaki on a monthly basis. So magtulungan ho tayo for that.

[Pangatlo] ho, iyong Productivity Bonuses natin, kaya nga hinihingi ko

ho, please maging mabilis ho tayo sa performance output reporting natin, kasi

pag oras na mahit natin ang target, sigurado po kayo na magkakaroon po tayo

ng Performance Bonuses. We just have to have a good clearance rate, a good

disposition rate, and you will recognize that there are things that are

improving in the total package that judicial employees are already getting. By

this time, iyong inyo pong sinasabi na uniform that has been converted to a

cash allowance of 5,000 pesos should have been received by you. But what I

want to know is whether you think that it is better to give — I want this

survey — to give it in cash or you still want a uniform system, but I want it

really to be on a very open and transparent bidding process.

But the more revolutionary assistance we hope to give you is to give you

already very good steno taking machines and to bring you onstream to the

Electronic Court System.

How many of you are from Quezon City? From Makati? From Pasig?

Alright. In Quezon City, where the Electronic Court System is, nakita ninyo na

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po ba na naupgrade na ang mga computers ninyo? (Crowd answers yes)

Alright. Sino naman po ang mga Stenographers na kasama sa pilot Automated

Hearing Courts, Continuous Trial Courts? Nabigyan ng mga bagong computers

ngayon, ano ho? Alright, so eventually by the end of no later than 2017, all

courts in Metro Manila shall already be on an electronic mode, which means in

about two years from now lahat po kayo magkakaroon na ng upgraded

system. And you already know what benefit that an Electronic Court System

can do for you. ‘Di ba po doon sa mga nag Automated Trial, Quezon City —

paglabas ng order ng judge ninyo, binibigay ninyo na kagad? (Crowd answers

yes) And does it mean that you have more time to do your stenographic notes?

(Crowd answers yes) Okay, so that means that eventually makikita ninyo na

iyong work-life balance na hinahanap ninyo. Sino po ba namang tao ang gusto

na parang hinahabol pa — oh tapusin mo yung TSN, ‘di pa tapos. But now it is

going to happen with the automation of the system. And I hope everybody

understands apart from those in the room, hindi ko po kasi pwedeng

masyadong unahin iyong mga nasa probinsya at this point kasi ang backlog po,

at grabe ang libu-libo pong kaso ay nandito po sa NCR (National Capital

Region), together with some cities in Region III, principally Angeles and the

major cities of Bulacan. We also have congestion in Region IV-A Cavite,

Batangas, some cities in Laguna that we really have to prioritize. But definitely

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when it comes to the National Capital Judicial Region (NCJR), you are going to

get a bulk, a very large bulk of the upgrade of the facilities that are going to be

distributed.

The [fourth] news I want to tell you —so alam ninyo na po, marami na

po kayong, sino po … [sa inyo nakasama sa] Hustisyeah! Project? Iyong

inventory, Quezon City noh? Makati tapos na? Pasig tapos na ba? Manila? Wala

pa. Iyong Hustisyeah! Project, we are rolling-out a lot of lawyers and paralegals

to help inventory the cases, so the Case Management System can really be put

in place. Ang mangyayari po niyan, pag magkasama na ang Hustiyeah!

Program pati iyong Electronic Court Program, magkakaroon na ho kayo ng

100% clean inventory. Your records will be 100% accurate, and you will be

taking all of these in an electronic format. Hindi na ho kayo mangangapa kung

anong case record ninyo, ano ang status, everything will be automated and you

will be free to do the things that are most meaningful to you, which is really to

create the faithful transcription of all the events that come up in a hearing,

which means that productivity will now be your mantra and you will have the

tools to push for productivity. And on top of this will be a performance-based

bonus system. So makikita ninyo po na ang pag increase ng benefits ninyo will

be ultimately tied up with the productivity of every employee in the judiciary.

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So that we ultimately, tayo po, matutuwa po tayo sa mangyayari sa atin kasi

you will really be very proud of ourselves. Every centavo that we get paid by

the system, we can account for to the Filipino people. Masasabi natin sakanila,

maganda po ang benepisyong natatanggap naming kasi kinikilala ang aming

kontribusyon sa hudikatura dito sa National Capital Judicial Region.

At mayroon pa po akong i-aannounce na iyong committee na crineate ko

po, namin po, which is the JDF (Development Fund) Committee, iyon po ung

Judiciary Development Fund na mayroon pong representative from every

court level has already come up with guidelines and in principle tinanggap na

po ng Korte Suprema ito, na iyong facilities at equipment portion na 20% ng

JDF, will be on a regional basis. Because the NCR is the judicial region that has

the highest collection of legal fees that goes to the JDF, it will also have the

highest proportion of apportionment of its facilities and equipment. In other

words, hindi ninyo na ho huhulaan iyong mga koleksyon namin kung saan

napupunta doon sa 20%. Since I sat po, pinag-aaralan ko na iyang 20% na iyan

kasi iyan ho yung mga tanong. Yung mga na-itabing pera doon, hindi na ho

natin gagalawin kasi may Supreme Court Resolutions na iyon. But all

collections from January 2016, doon sa 20% portion, mapupunta directly to

the region that collects it, which means more and more upgrade of facilities in

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the NCJR will be felt because they are directly attributed to the legal fees that

you are collecting. Fair po ba yan? (Crowd answers yes) Agree ho kayo, tama ho

yan? Alright. So we now should put aside any question na wala po tayong

attribution sa collection side doon sa JDF. And I hope that you appreciate that

this is our desire to show our people that we are really trying to as much as

possible [to] faithfully comply with the law so that you can look forward to

things from the legal fees that are being collected; the continuous, regular

releases of your COLA on a monthly basis, and if you are with me, and we plug

all loopholes, I think that the COLA on a monthly basis is going to be released

to you will inevitably increase.

The [fifth] will be the upgrading — continuous upgrading — of the

facilities of the National Capital Judicial Region sourced not only from the

General Appropriations Act but also from the legal fees, the 20% of which is

going to be given to directly upgrade your facilities and your equipment. So

you have something to look forward to, and I think that eventually, right now I

am trying to touch base with our other partners so that we can, as I had

promised, create a professionalized career stream in the judiciary for every

functional level that we had or functional post that we had indentified.

Halimbawa po, yung Court Stenographers, we can really say that there is a

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career track for Court Stenographers, we can tell people that every Court

Stenographer has been professionally vetted by us, and we are going to have a

technical skills upgrading of all Court Stenographers. We will expose you to

the latest technologies that are being used in other countries.

So when you are saying that what you want to have as your theme is —

Upgrading NCJR Stenographers... Embracing the Challenge of Technology — I

can promise you, I have already promised you, and I will outline my promises

to you.

First, we are looking at upgrading the compensation package and

hopefully the salary grade of all employees nationwide. But we have to

do it on a very rational basis because this discussion we have to

continue having with Congress and with the Department of Budget and

Management (DBM). Note that we are not going to do it alone. We have

to convince our partners in government.

Secondly, a lot of technical support will be brought to upgrade the level

of skills for the entry of stenographers and I am thinking of talking not

with TESDA (Technical Education and Skills Development Authority)

but also some other schools. But also continuously upgrading the skills

of stenographers who have already been occupying that position.

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Third, the technology together with the machines that are needed for

you to embrace that technology will be provided the Stenographers.

And the fourth is all of these efficiencies will eventually be reflected in a

performance-based bonus system. In other words, you will feel

validation as you do your work very well. And hopefully, iyong mga

ingay ingay at tsismis at iyong stereotype na ginagawa ng mga tao sa

labas about Stenographers in the judiciary, we will put that to rest

because we will have nothing but really really very professional

stenographic notes.

But allow me then to post a challenge to you. I have been thinking about

this, and it was starkly put to me when I went to Davao and when I also went

to Tarlac. Ito po, magPilipino na ako kasi galing po sa puso. Iyon po bang

konsepto ng hustisya sa tingin ninyo, ito po ba ay umuusad at yumayabong pag

ang ating pangunahing wikang ginagamit sa korte ay Ingles? O dapat po bang

pangunahing wika na ginagamit natin sa hearing ay iyong dialekto ng lugar ng

mga witnesses? (Crowd goes noisy, everyone speaks at the same time)

Mahihirapan kayo? Bakit? (Crowd goes noisy again, everyone speaks at the

same time) Kasi iisa lang ang style ng steno-taking ninyo? Alin ang mas

mahirap, iyong mag-aral kayo mag steno sa ibang paraan o iyong kailangang

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masabi ng mga testigo ang nais nila? O alin po ba ang problema, ang pag

interpret— (crowd goes noisy again, everyone speaks at the same time) okay.

Ganito po ang gagawin natin, sa akin po hindi po ako naniniwala nang sinabi na

sa atin na dapat ay mayroon tayong isang pambansang wika ay isang patay na

prinsipyo sa ating Konstitusyon. Malimit po na nakikita ko na iyong mga taong

kailangan magsalita ayon sa nararamdaman nila ay kailangang bigyan laya at

ginagawa po natin iyon kaya lang pag pumasok na po iyong pag i-interpret

ninyo — minsan kayo narin po ang Interpreter ‘di po ba — eh nagkakahirap

hirap po tayo. Hindi po ba panahon na, kasi sa ibang bansa hindi naman po

wikang Ingles ang ginagamit nila, kung ano ang wika na nagbubukal mula sa

puso ng mga tao, iyon ang wikang ginagamit nila. Maaari ko po bang tanungin

lamang po kayo, sa inyo po bang palagay ay kaya po ba nating gawin na mas

marami po tayong lenguwaheng kilalanin? Kaya po natin? At kaya po ba nating

pag-usapan ito, kung kailangang mahabang usapin ito, ay gawin nating

mahabang usapin. Halimbawa po ba pag iyong mga taga Palawan ay nakahuli

ng Intsik minsan na nagsasabi na galing sa Mainland — ‘di ba po minsan sa

inyong courtroom merong galing sa Mainland na sinasabing hindi sila

marunong mag-Ingles, hindi sila marunong magTagalong — tigil ang korte?

Hahanap kayo ng Interpreter, eh wala naman po tayong Interpreter na

marunog mag-Intsik. Naghahanap ho, in the meantime, tigil muna. Hindi ho

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tama iyon. In other words, we should face the language barrier or the language

problem directly.

I already have reports of cases of those who cannot speak English or any

local dialect unable to have their hearing move forward. Does it mean then

that you, who not only take notes, take transcripts, but who act as

Researchers, Interpreters, Clerks of Court, must open yourself to a multi-

lingual world?

The ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) which has just been signed by

the President, as representative of our country, may mean greater movement

of persons. Maaari ngayon eh shielded kayo kasi hindi naman kayo nasa mundo

ng negosyo. Ang ayaw ko pong mangyari eh ang hudikatura ang huli, umiinog

na ang mundo, ang bilis-bilis na ng nangyayari, tayo po ay naiiwan pa po.

Maaari po ba kahit maliliit na grupo lang ay pag-usapan na ang problema ng

lenguwahe. Alam ninyo ho hindi ko hihintayin na kaming mga Huwes ang mag-

uusap ng mga iyon eh, kasi kayo po ang nasa ground. Kayo po ang

nakakaintindi kung iyong witness makasabi talaga ng totoo o hindi o

nahihirapan o naiipit. Kayo po talaga ang makapagsasabi kasi kaming mga

Huwes pag naguusap-usap kami, nakakahanap kami ng pormal na solusyon.

But you are on the operating ground level. I think you should be the ones to

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tell us whether justice is really being felt in the courtroom or justice somehow

in its genuine essence, is not being served. What I want to tell you is that we

have a duty to go forward and to tell our people that we understand them. We

have the duty to tell them that we understand their stories, and the justice

system is there because there are stories from different sides that the judge is

trying to balance and that you, the ones who are making these possible, want

to facilitate the genuine search for justice.

So alam ko po ang importante sa inyo ay hindi lang makapagprovide

para sa families ninyo, but I know that what you want to answer is the

question of meaning: how meaningful is my job to the judiciary? How

meaningful is my job to the face of justice? Gaano ba kahalaga ito sa

sambayanang Pilipino? Kaya’t ganoon na lamang po at nais ko po talagang

makisalamuha sa mga empleyado ng hudikatura ‘pagkat alam ko po kung hindi

ho natin maipaparamdam iyang mensaheng yan: na nais naming maging

mahalaga sa paggawad ng hustiya, ay lagi na lamang po sasabihin ni Juan dela

Cruz ay walang hustisya sa ating bayan. Hayaan ninyo hong maging

importanteng haligi po tayo ng ating bansa. Hayaan ninyo pong masabi

manlamang namin, natin, na mula sa puso ng hudikatura, naririto ang isang

pangako sa inyo na abot sa aming kakayahan ipararamdam namin sa inyo ang

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hustisya. Maaaring hindi kami Huwes ngunit ang halaga namin ay kasing

halaga ng isang Huwes sa paggawad ng hustisya. Marami pong salamat at

congratulations po sa inyong lahat!