Senator Robin Padilla pushed anew for online or paperless access of Filipino Muslims in Shari’ah courts.
In his sponsorship speech for Committee Report 237 for Senate Bill 2613, Padilla said it is time to address the 15-year-old challenge facing Muslim Filipinos in submitting documents to Shari’ah courts.
“Dahil po dito, bahagi ng panukalang susog sa R.A. No. 9997 ay pagbuo ng digital platform upang mapayagan na po ang paperless filing ng mga pangkaraniwang mga dokumento sa Shari’ah Courts tulad ng marriage certificate, birth certificate, death certificate, pleadings and other court submissions. Sa hakbanging ito ay magiging kaakibat po natin ang isa sa mga ahensya ng pamahalaan: ang Department of Information and Communications Technology o DICT,” the legislator said.
“Naniniwala po akong isang mabisang hakbangin ang panukalang ito upang maisabay sa modernisasyon ng mga proseso at operasyon ng Korte.”
“Naniniwala po akong isang mabisang hakbangin ang panukalang ito upang maisabay sa modernisasyon ng mga proseso at operasyon ng Korte,” the lawmaker added.
The senator noted the Supreme Court has a Strategic Plan for Judicial Innovation 2022-2027.
Also, he pointed out the current lack of resources and limited access of Muslim Filipinos in filing and submitting documents to Shari’ah Courts.
“Bigyan ng legal na kapangyarihan ang Bureau of Legal Affairs upang makapaghatid ng administratibong tulong sa ating mga kababayan.”
“Dahil dito, simple lamang po ang ating kahilingan – ang bigyan ng legal na kapangyarihan ang Bureau of Legal Affairs upang makapaghatid ng administratibong tulong sa ating mga kababayan,” Padilla said.
He said this will not cause confusion in court regulations.
Meanwhile, Padilla sought coordination between the Philippine Statistics Authority and National Commission on Muslim Filipinos (NCMF) on data about Muslim communities at the national, regional, provincial, city and town levels.
