CHIEF JUSTICE ARTEMIO V. Panganiban, who is also ex officio chairman of the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC), is calling on members of the Philippine Bar to help fill up 618 vacancies in the trial courts nationwide.
     As of June 30, there are a total of 618 judicial vacancies in the trial courts nationwide based on the records of the Office of the Court Administrator, Supreme Court. These vacancies are in the Regional Trial Court (RTC), Metropolitan Trial Court (MeTC), Municipal
Trial Court in Cities (MTCC), Municipal Trial Court (MTC), Municipal Circuit Trial Court (MCTC), Shari’a District Court (SDC), and Shari’a Circuit Court (SCC).
     The 618 vacancies correspond to roughly 30% of the total 2,152 authorized judicial positions in the trial courts. Of the total vacancies, 139 are in the RTC, 23 in the MeTC, 55 in the MTCC, 133 in the MTC, 240 in the MCTC, five in the SDC, and 23 in the SCC. The National Capital Region has the largest number of vacancies in the RTC at 66. Of the said vacancies, 24 are in Pasay City; 22 in Manila City; seven in Pasig City; five in Quezon City; three each in the cities of Pasay and Caloocan, and one each in the cities of Malabon and Mandaluyong. NCR also has 23 vacant courts in the MTC.
     Under RA 9227, judges’ compensation will have doubled by November this year, bringing the lowest compensation of judges to about Php50,000 per month. This, the Chief Justice hopes, will encourage more applicants to judicial posts.
     Interested applicants may contact the JBC Secretariat at (02) 552-9593 or (02) 552-9512 or write the JBC Secretariat at 2F, Centennial Building, Supreme Court, Padre Faura, Manila. Application forms can be downloaded from the internet by logging on to http://jbc.supremecourt.gov.ph/ downloads.php.