Olamit, Ara Princess O.

July 6, 2019
4 – Manresa

Court Observations

Regional Trial Court

Branch 17, Davao City

Presiding Judge: Hon. Marivic A. Trabajo-Daray

Public Prosecutor: Pros. Myla C. Lao
PAO Lawyer: Atty. Cherry Lynn Trinidad-Geoganica
Branch Clerk of Court: Atty. Kristine Jane Pague
Branch Interpreter: Lorena Alviar
Branch Stenographer: Jessel Jane Akiatan

June 26, 2019 (Wednesday) at 2:00 PM

Last June 26, 2019, at 2:00 in the afternoon, our group went to visit and observe the proceedings
of Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 17 of Davao City. For an hour, we were permitted to observe
court processes. The cases confronted by the court on that time were criminal cases and the proceedings
that we were able to witness mostly were arraignment proceedings. We were able to observe the hearing of
at least 20 criminal cases but since some of the accused and the complainants (as well as their counsels)
were not present, not all of them were heard by the court.

Also, based on the scheduled calendar for that day, those cases were ought to proceed with pre-trial
proceedings after the arraignment of the persons accused. However, the Honorable Judge re-scheduled the
pre-trial (on motion by the counsels present) for the purpose of allowing the parties to prepare for the said
proceeding.

Finally, we were able to witness how an examination in court was done when the Honorable Judge
called the complainant in the witness stand to testify on the authenticity and voluntariness of his Affidavit
of Desistance. The case was a homicide case wherein the complainant is the father of the deceased-victim.
We were able to observe how the counsel was able to examine the complainant on his willingness to
withdraw the prosecution of the case. Thereafter, the Honorable Judge granted the Affidavit and dismisses
the case.
 AMBUSH INTERVIEW

Lawyer interviewed: Atty. Leopoldo Cagatin

After an hour of observation, we went out of court and decided to wait for one of the counsels who
were a part to the court proceedings. One of them granted us the privilege to interview him on his experience
in appearing in court for the first time. According to him, he was very nervous and was even shaking when
he visited court for the first time as a counsel. When asked as to the lesson that he learned from that
experience, he told us that “there is always a first time for everything.” He was just very open and accepting
as to whatever he would experience that day. That kind of mindset helped him survive the challenge of
appearing in court as a counsel for the very first time.