JUDGE-TO-JUDGE DIALOGUE. Tacloban City – Justice Lucas P. Bersamin of the Court of Appeals discusses techniques on how to expedite civil case proceedings before selected 1st and 2nd level court judges in Tacloban City and nearby towns in Leyte during the 2nd leg of the Judge-to-Judge Dialogue on The Power of the Judge: Taking Control of Court Proceedings held at Leyte Park Resort here on November 16. Justice Diosdado M. Peralta of the Sandiganbayan shared means of speeding up criminal case proceedings in the other part of the Dialogue organized by the Philippine Judicial Academy (PHILJA), Office of the Court Administrator (OCA) and the Program Management Office with the assistance of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) through the American Bar Association – Rule of Law Initiative (ABA-ROLI).
 

FORMER JAPANESE AMBASSADOR HONORED. Chief Justice Reynato S. Puno and Chief Justice Artemio V. Panganiban (ret.) present a Plaque of Appreciation to H.E. Ambassador Ryuichiro Yamazaki of Japan during a luncheon program held in his honor on Tuesday, September 11 at the Justices Lounge of the Supreme Court. Ambassador Yamazaki, who winded up his diplomatic mission in the country on September 15, played a key role in building a good partnership between the Japanese government and the Philippine Judiciary. Under his term, the Japanese government provided a $300 million grant to the Judiciary for the expansion of the PHILJA Development Center. The grant, uniquely with "no strings attached", was awarded during the incumbency of Chief Justice Panganiban. The PHILJA Development Center project continues under the leadership of Chief Justice Puno, with the construction stage expected to begin early next year.
 

JRSP ACTION PLANNING WORKSHOP. Madame Justice Angelina Sandoval-Gutierrez, Chairperson of the Judicial Reform Support Project (JRSP) Management Committee joins the participants composed of various representatives of key Offices in the Supreme Court in the JRSP Action Planning Workshop held on 18 May 2007 at the Pan Pacific Hotel. The JRSP is a World-Bank supported judicial reform initiative that involves projects such as the Pilot Model Courts, the e-Library, Caseflow Management System and the Justice on Wheels.
 

NATIONAL MOOT COURT COMPETITION. The members of the 3^rd National Moot Court Competition champion team University of St. La Salle Bacolod and runner-up University of the Philippines are flanked by the contest judges Mr. Fork Yow Leong (leftmost) of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Supreme Court Justice Adolfo S. Azcuna (5^th from left), Justice Leonor Ines Luciano of the Philippine National Red Cross (sixth from left), Mr. Felipe Donoso of ICRC (4^th from right), Atty. Norman Daanoy of the Department of National Defense (3^rd from right), Governor Rodolfo Garcia of the Philippine National Red Cross (2^nd from right), and Atty. Rey Oliver Alejandrino of the Philippine Society of International Humanitarian Law (rightmost).
 

ABA-ROLI COUNTRY DIRECTOR BIDS FAREWELL. Ms. Teresa Cannady, Esq., Country Director of the American Bar Association - Rule of Law Initiative, receives a Plaque of Appreciation from the Supreme Court for her invaluable contribution to the achievement of the Judiciary’s goals under the Action Program for Judicial Reform (APJR) during a simple farewell program in her honor at the Justices Lounge on April 30. Ms. Cannady, who is taking on a new assignment in Cairo, Egypt, initiated various reform projects with the Judiciary such as the Judge-to-Judge Dialogues, the development of the Judicial Reform Index, Seminars on the Code of Conduct for Judicial Personnel and Capacity-Building Training for the JBC Staff among others during her brief stint as head of ABA-ROLI.