CREATING TRIAL COURTS: Senator Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III, chair of the Senate Committee on Justice and Human Rights, listens to lawyer Marina Ching, head of the Court Management Office of the Supreme Court, during a Senate hearing on the 27 measures pending at the House of Representatives which call for the creation of additional regional trial courts. Pimentel who earlier noted that the “cause of justice is being affected by undue delay” in the appointment of new judges and prosecutors, urged Malacañang to immediately fill-up of vacant positions in the judiciary to reduce the backlog of unresolved court cases. (Photo by Albert Calvelo)