The House of Representatives committees on justice and on appropriations have jointly endorsed for plenary approval a bill establishing a new armed marshal service to safeguard judges and court staff from potential threats and violence.
“We have very high hopes the bill will be passed into law soon, since it is already up for plenary action in both chambers of Congress,” said Surigao del Sur Rep. Johnny Pimentel, the bill’s principal author.
Pimentel filed the bill in 2019 after then Chief Justice Diosdado Peralta called for the creation of a dedicated protective force for the judiciary amid the spate of killings of judges.
Under House Bill 9086, the Judiciary Marshals Service will operate “as an independent, professional, and organized security force under the direct control and supervision of the Supreme Court.”
“The service will be under the Office of Court Administrator. It will be headed by a chief marshal, who will have the same rank and privileges as an associate justice of the Supreme Court,” said Pimentel, chairperson of the House strategic intelligence committee.
“The chief marshal will be assisted by three deputies – one each for Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao – who will have the same rank and privileges as a regional trial court judge,” he added.
The chief marshal and his or her three deputies must all be members of the Philippine Bar, and must have held the rank of at least a full colonel in the Armed Forces or the National Police, or assistant director of the National Bureau of Investigation.
They will be appointed by the Supreme Court en banc and will serve until they reach the age of 65 years old.
The bill leaves it up to the high tribunal to configure the full staffing pattern of the service.
