MANILA — Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II is set to lead the groundbreaking ceremony of the new Department of Justice (DOJ) Regional Building in Tuguegarao City on Thursday.
“Together with some senior officials of the DOJ, we will break ground on the long proposed and long-sought after DOJ Regional Building in Tugegarao City. This event will highlight the DOJ-NPS Region II Regional Convention,” Aguirre said in a statement Sunday.
“We want our DOJ family to finally be able to proudly proclaim to all that they have a home they can truly call their own. We will build, build and build some more for a better DOJ,” he added.
The Justice Secretary said the agency has already jump started its efforts with the groundbreaking ceremony for the DOJ Administration building at DOJ Main office last Jan. 17 and the DOJ Academy and Training Center located in Brgy. Maginhawa in Tagaytay City , on January 19.
He said the PHP100-million project would serve as the future training ground for all the employees of the DOJ Family, including the conduct of specialized classes and Mandatory Continuing Legal Education (MCLE) for our lawyers.
Last Jan. 30, the office of Lucena City Mayor Roderick “Dondon” Alcala hosted the groundbreaking ceremony for the DOJ building in Quezon which will house not only the members of the DOJ’s National Prosecution Service but will also be the future home of the other DOJ-attached agencies in the province.
“It has always been our avowed purpose to improve your DOJ, to make it better than when we found it. By the grace of the Almighty and with the full support of President Duterte and of Congress, we are slowly but surely witnessing the realization of our vision for your DOJ,” Aguirre stressed.
“The good thing about all of this is that we are just getting started, we are planning to break ground on several other DOJ buildings in the course of the year,” he added.
Aside from the project for new buildings, Aguirre also addressed the need for office equipment of DOJ field offices as well the welfare of the prosecutors.
“By the end of 2017, we have procured and have eventually distributed to our field offices nationwide the following,: 47 units of INEO 287 Copier, 37 units of Sharp copiers, 720 units of Epson L485 Printers, 321 units of Epson L4160 printers, 232 units of Epson Dot Matrix Printers, 614 units of HP Desktop Computer units and 200 units Fujitsu Document scanners,” Aguirre said adding that “We will also give all our lawyers in the DOJ, one laptop each.”
This year, the DOJ shall not only focus on building new sites but also improving the benefits for each and every employee, Aguirre said.
He noted that before 2017 ended, he signed a Department Order providing all the prosecutors a 30 day forfeitable leave benefit also called the Wellness Benefit, the leave of 30 days shall be in addition to the 15 days vacation and 15 days sick leave.
“We should all be reminded that “the secret of change is to focus all of our energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new. Mens sana in corpore sano (is a Latin phrase), a healthy mind and a healthy body for a better DOJ for all will be our objective,” Aguirre emphasized. (Christopher Lloyd Caliwan/PNA)
