Presiding Judge Crescencio Tan Jr. of the Regional Trial Court Branch 30 yesterday welcomed the decision of the Supreme Court to adopt the judicial affidavit rule in hearing cases with penalty of not more than six years, starting January next year.

Tan said that, although it applies only to lower courts, using judicial affidavits in lieu of direct testimonies can be agreed upon by both parties in the RTC, especially on drugs cases.

He said he prefers the stipulation of facts to fast-track the resolution of drugs cases, so that persons required to sign the inventory receipt do not have to be placed on the witness stand if they can be identified through photographs, like the members of the media.

He cited the case of People of the Philippines versus Christian Calumpang and Emmanuel Navarro, both from Tanjay City, Negros Oriental, who were arrested in a buy-bust operation last January. Tan said the case was promulgated in 10 months because the parties agreed to the stipulation of facts.

Tan, who was awarded as outstanding Dumaguetnon for 2012, said that, since 2005, he has sentenced to various jail terms more than 500 persons, with around 100 of them serving life imprisonment in the National Bilibid Prison.

An outstanding alumnus of the Silliman University College of Law, Tan said lawyering is not just earning a living, but serving and seeing to it that the law is applied with a conscience.*JG

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