Villar wants judges, lawyers in far-flung areas to have a hazard pay

Senate President Manny Villar wants judges, prosecutors and public attorneys assigned in far-flung areas to have hazard pay. This is in addition to the common recommendation of increasing the salaries of those serving in the judiciary.

Attending the first organizational meeting of the newly constituted Judiciary, Executive and Legislative Advisory and Consultative Council (JELAC), Villar rationalized that he wants poor litigants and those who are needing legal assistance to have access to the justice system.

"Giving them hazard pay will complement the unusual physical hardship of being assigned in the farthest communities of the country. This small recommendation of giving hazard pay may be simple but it will redound to the citizens gaining more access to intelligent advise concerning issues of legal significance. Hopefully, it may attract also lawyers to practice law in far-flung areas."

"The JELAC to be meaningful must be the venue for the poor people to the system of rule of law. That is the purest form of achieving the ends of justice," Villar said.

The most recent statistics on the judiciary indicates almost 30% vacancies in all trial courts in the country while the Public Attorney's Office (PAO) with its heavy work load and low pay scale has not been attracting lawyers to join it.

The JELAC is envisioned as an inter-departmental coordinating council which shall serve as forum and venue for the representatives of the three branches of government to undertake measures affecting the primacy of the rule of law, to identify the problems and issues, to formulate solutions and to implement the same. It is composed of the President, Vice President, Senate President, Speaker of the House of Representative and the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, a cabinet member, a senator, one congressman and an associate justice of the High Tribunal.