BY DAVE SUAN ALBARADO
A new Hall of Justice for Tagbilaran City moved a step closer to reality this week, as the Bohol provincial government formally renewed its donation of the project site to the Supreme Court.
Governor Aris Aumentado signed the deed of donation on Oct. 29, 2026 conveying a provincial lot at the foot of Banat-i Hill in Barangay Bool, Tagbilaran City.
The deed reaffirms an earlier donation of the same property by a previous provincial administration.
Former Bohol First District Congressman Atty. Edgar Chatto, who has lobbied for the project since his time as governor, said on Saturday he was pleased the long-awaited facility was finally moving forward.
He thanked the Supreme Court for committing to give Bohol a new, decent and comfortable one-stop-shop courthouse, and said the goal is to make justice more accessible to Boholanos.
The Sangguniang Panlalawigan authorized the signing through Resolution No. 2026-1252, which also confirmed the earlier donation.
Court Administrator Justice Ma. Theresa Dolores Gomez-Estoesta accepted the property for the Supreme Court, and the signed deed was presented to Chief Justice Alexander Gesmundo and Associate Justice Henri Jean Paul Inting.
Tagbilaran City Mayor Jane Yap, Regional Trial Court (RTC) Executive Judge Lindecita Arcamo, Municipal Trial Court in Cities (MTCC) Executive Judge Angie Logarta, Provincial Legal Officer Handel Lagunay and Bohol Rep. John Geesnell “Baba” Yap witnessed the signing.
The complex will house seven RTC branches, four MTCC branches and a Family Court, along with two courtrooms reserved for future needs. It will also host the RTC and MTCC clerks of court, the Provincial and City Prosecutor’s Offices, the Public Attorney’s Office, the Parole and Probation Office and a Judicial Marshal’s Office.
Planned amenities include a canteen, library, conference room, clinic, business center, training room, roof deck, basement and outdoor parking.
The building will replace the existing 1970s-era Hall of Justice, which Chatto and others describe as overcrowded and inadequate for judges, prosecutors, lawyers, court staff and the public. It is expected to serve Tagbilaran City and the municipalities under RTC jurisdiction, and to spare litigants and witnesses from running between separate offices.
Judges, prosecutors, lawyers and ordinary citizens had long called for a new courthouse, and the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP)-Bohol Chapter urged the Supreme Court by resolution to build it.
Chatto, who served as governor and later as first district representative, began pushing the plan in 2019 with then Chief Justice Lucas Bersamin, and lobbied to include Bohol in the Supreme Court’s judicial infrastructure program.
Former IBP-Bohol president Atty. Julius Gregory Delgado credited him on social media, calling the project Chatto’s vision and hard work, which began with Bersamin’s 2019 visit to Bohol.
By March 2020, Bohol had secured the largest allocation among new Hall of Justice sites nationwide, an estimated P240 million included in the General Appropriations Act.
Chatto, by then first district representative, joined a Supreme Court infrastructure team and local judges in inspecting the site.
The Manila Bulletin reported that the provincial government under then Governor Arthur Yap had signed a deed of donation covering about half a hectare.
Bersamin retired before the project advanced, but Chatto won a renewed commitment from his successor, Chief Justice Diosdado Peralta, at a congressional hearing on the Supreme Court’s 2020 budget.
The Supreme Court said in January 2021 that bidding for the detailed architectural and engineering design (DAED) was under way.
In September 2022, Chatto told the radio program Newsmakers ug Uban Pa over DYTR that Associate Justice Midas Marquez had informed him the bidding was done, with civil works expected to start in 2023.
In October 2023, Chatto followed up with Executive Secretary Bersamin during House deliberations on the 2024 national budget.
The Supreme Court’s infrastructure office told him the design consultant would submit three conceptual options within three weeks, after which procurement would follow.
In May 2025, the Supreme Court approved the initial conceptual design, according to Atty. Abel Damalerio, then Chatto’s chief of staff.
Deputy Court Administrator Requel Ladrillano signed off on a five-storey building with a floor area of 13,103.12 square meters.
Construction has yet to begin.
Site assessments on environmental and geological risks at Banat-i Hill slowed the project, and the Sangguniang Panlalawigan later interposed no objection to construction, subject to thorough reviews by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and other agencies.
In November 2025, provincial and city officials said the Hall of Justice still had no permits.
Environmental concerns had also halted a separate Regional Cultural Hub on the same hill, and the province convened coordination talks with the Tagbilaran City government and national agencies.
Chatto has said the priority is to get the hall of justice building done (regardless of who gets the credit).
The present HOJ beside the new Provl Capitol Building is ALREADY in deplorable condition needing urgent replacement to give a decent home for the Judiciary and the people of Bohol.