Atty. Ma. Lourdes G. Cabalog-Perfecto’s nearly quarter of a century service to the Judiciary has borne  fruits. She has been appointed as the new chief of the Judicial Records Office (JRO). She took her oath of office before Chief Justice Reynato S. Puno on March 10.

“Atty. Marlou,” as she is fondly called, started her career in public service as Legal Officer of the Bureau of Agrarian Legal Assistance Office where she stayed from 1981 to 1984. Then stationed in Davao, she recalls the first case she handled was the one filed by certain farmers against the matriarch of a powerful political family involving a large parcel of agricultural land in Davao Oriental. While handling the said case, she remembers having received death threats until her transfer to the Manila office six months later upon the request of the agrarian regional office.

In November 1984, Atty. Marlou joined the Judiciary and rose from the ranks from Judicial Assistant Attorney I, Court Attorney II, Court Attorney III, Court Attorney IV, and Court Attorney V (now reclassified as Attorney VI). In 2005, she became JRO Assistant Chief of Office and was appointed as Acting JRO Chief of Office last January following the retirement of Atty. Teresita G. Dimaisip. She is a former president of the Supreme Court Association of Lawyer Employees (SCALE). A graduate of the Ateneo de Davao University, she is working on her thesis to complete her Master of Laws Degree at the University of Santo Tomas.
 
As the new JRO chief, Atty. Marlou fosters camaraderie among the JRO personnel by sponsoring a monthly salu-salo (get-together) for them. She says she is aware that work at the JRO office is hard. In return, she “wants to share blessings” with her staff.

Atty. Marlou says the lack of personnel and of storage area for Court records are the challenges she faces. She needs at least two lawyers to help in reviewing cases, she adds.

At present, the JRO has three storage areas – a room at the old Ombudsman building in Arroceros, Manila; a spot in front of the satellite LandBank branch near the SC Printing Office; and at the basement of the old SC building. But the JRO needs additional space to store the mounting voluminous court documents, she points out.
 
With the JRO tasked to keep track of all case records, Atty. Marlou says she is pleased to have “honest people,” particularly at the Judgment Division.

“It is in the JRO where cases are born, it being the recipient of all cases filed before this Court and culminates upon the promulgation of the decision and terminated upon the issuance of the Entry of Judgment. The JRO will work hard to keep the trust and confidence of the Chief Justice and the whole Supreme Court,” she says.