Marawi City native Justice Japar Dimaampao has assured Mindanaoans they will always have a voice in the Supreme Court while vowing to always uphold the legal rights of all sectors of society. Dimaampao said lawyers are encouraged to provide free legal aid to the disadvantaged, unfortunate, underprivileged, and underserved sectors of society, according to a news release on Monday. He said lawyers are 'frontline soldiers in the battlefield, who must fight mightily, even sacrificially, in the protection of rights and defense of the law.' 'This is the only way you can achieve an approximation of God's justice here on earth. For it is said that what you do for the least of your brethren, you do it also to Him,' Dimaampao said. It was the same message Dimaampao delivered before the IBP Western Mindanao Regional Convention in Dipolog City last week. Burt Estrada, IBP national president, is also from Mindanao. He is a member of the Bukidnon Tagoloan Tribe and a product of Ateneo de Cagayan. 'Indeed, this gives us Mindanaoans renewed hope and optimism that greater inclusivity will be indelibly ingrained in the collective consciousness of Filipino people,' Dimaampao said during the IBP gathering. The Supreme Court has included projects and reforms in the Shari'ah Legal System under its Strategic Plan for Judicial Innovations 2022-2027, the institutional blueprint for the 'delivery of responsive and real-time justice.' Shari'ah courts deal with Muslim customary and personal laws and exclude criminal law.

Source: Philippines News Agency