TACLOBAN CITY鈥擮ne prosecutor. At least 1,700 pending cases. Ten new cases daily.
These are the numbers that paint a vivid picture of how undermanned the prosecutor鈥檚 office of Ormoc City, Leyte, is.
The region鈥檚 state prosecutor assigned two prosecutors from Tacloban City鈥擡rwin James Fabriga and Melissa Macapugas鈥攖o ease the load of Ormoc City Prosecutor Marcelo O帽ate.
But Fabriga and Macapugas are still in Tacloban.
O帽ate was left alone following the promotion of Gorgonia Encina and Jun Romero, former Ormoc prosecutors, as judges of the municipal trial court. That was in 2012, more than three years ago.
O帽ate has since requested Malaca帽ang for replacements but 鈥渦ntil now, the request has not been acted upon,鈥� said Thelma Aparis, assistant administrative officer of the city prosecutor鈥檚 office, in a phone interview.
Aparis admitted the obvious鈥攖he lack of prosecutors in Ormoc is delaying action on hundreds of cases.
More than 1,200 cases are pending in Ormoc鈥檚 two regional trial courts and another 500 are in lower courts.