Supreme Court, BCDA sign MOU covering judiciary complex in New Clark City

The Supreme Court and the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) on Thursday signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) covering a 5.8-hectare judiciary complex in New Clark City.

Court Administrator Jose Midas Marquez and BCDA president and CEO Vivencio Dizon signed the MOU in the presence of Chief Justice Lucas Bersamin, some members of the Court, and BCDA officials.

Straddling in the towns of Capas and Bamban in Tarlac, the 5.8-hectare lot will house a regional SC office, including an archive and data center, and a training center with living quarters, as well as the Philippine Judicial Academy, the Judicial and Bar Council, and the Mandatory Continuing Legal Education Office.

Marquez said hearing rooms, a Hall of Justice, and regional offices of the Court of Appaels, Sandiganbayan, Court of Tax Appeals, and the Office of the Court Administrator could also rise in the within the property.

The complex will be located within New Clark City’s National Government Administrative Center, a 200-hectare mixed-use government center which will also house sports facilities to be used when the country hosts of the Southeast Asian Games later this year.

“It is an ambitious project also because we want to break ground … this October 2019, or some three months from now,” Marquez said in a speech before the MOU signing.

He said the Office of the Court Administrator will recommend that the Court create a technical working group that will finalize the initial plans to be submitted to the BCDA.

Under the MOU, the SC lot will be surrounded by a residential area, a business center, and a proposed governance innovation hub, according to a statement from the Court’s Public Information Office. —VDS, GMA News