The Philippine Judicial Academy was created by the Supreme Court on March 12, 1996, under the leadership of then Chief Justice Andres R. Narvasa, through the issuance of Administrative Order No. 35-96 Establishment of the Philippine Judicial Academy (PHILJA). It received its mandate on February 26, 1998, through Republic Act No. 8557 An Act Establishing the Philippine Judicial Academy, Defining its Powers and Functions, Appropriating Funds Therefor, and for other Purposes. This law institutionalized PHILJA as a “training school for justices, judges, court personnel, lawyers, and aspirants to judicial posts.”
When Chief Justice Hilario G. Davide, Jr. took his oath on November 30, 1998, he pledged to make the Supreme Court and the whole Judiciary worthy of public trust and confidence. He saw the vital role that continuing judicial education plays in ensuring judicial competence and efficiency. Given this “daunting task of institutionalizing continuing judicial education,” Chief Justice Davide remarked, is the PHILIPPINE JUDICIAL ACADEMY (PHILJA), “the [Supreme] Court’s implementing arm and the nation’s watchdog in the pursuit of excellence in the Judiciary.”
The Philippine Judicial Academy, a separate but component unit of the Supreme Court, has become an all-important factor in the promotion of judicial education in the Philippines. It receives full patronage and support from the Court which guarantees the participation of judges and court personnel in its programs and activities. In fact, no first and second level trial court judge would commence the discharge of adjudicative functions without undergoing the related courses prescribed by the Academy. The Judicial and Bar Council, constitutionally tasked to recommend appointments and promotions to the Judiciary, is also directed by law to consider the participation of judges in the programs of the Academy, pursuant to Republic Act No. 8557. read more
By 2030, PHILJA will be the leading provider of globally relevant, responsive and effective training for the judiciary in the ASEAN region.
MISSION
Develop judicial competence, instill sound values, and form pro-active attitudes in the pursuit of judicial excellence
CORE VALUES
Professionalism Honor Inclusiveness Leadership Judicial Training Excellence Accountability
Who We Are
Board of Trustees
The Board is composed of the Chief Justice as Chairperson; the Senior Associate Justice as Vice Chairperson; the PHILJA Chancellor; the Presiding Justices of the Court of Appeals, the Sandiganbayan, and the Court of Tax Appeals; the Court Administrator; the presidents of the Philippine Judges Association and the Philippine Association of Law Schools; and a judge appointed by the Board to represent the First level Courts.
Justice Arturo D. Brion, a cum laude graduate of the Ateneo de Manila University Law School, Justice Brion first entered government service as a clerical aide in the now defunct Court of Agrarian Relations in 1970, while he was still in law school. Read More
JUSTICE ARTURO D. BRION
Chancellor, Philippine Judicial Academy
Associate Justice (Ret), Supreme Court of the Philippines
Office of the Vice-Chancellor / Finance Office
JUSTICE MARIANO C. DEL CASTILLO belongs to the Ateneo de Manila University’s Law School Class of 1976. Read More
JUSTICE MARIANO C. DEL CASTILLO
Vice Chancellor and Acting Chief of Finance, Philippine Judicial Academy
Retired Associate Justice, Supreme Court of the Philippines
Office of the Executive Secretary
Born on January 18, 1950 in Quezon City, Justice Ma. Luisa Cruz Quijano-Padilla is the fourth of the six children of Hector Morelos Quijano and Concepcion Victoria Cruz of San Ildefonso, Bulacan. Read More
JUSTICE MA. LUISA QUIJANO PADILLA
Executive Secretary, Philippine Judicial Academy
Academic Affairs Office
JUDGE THELMA ALLENA PONFERRADA was born on November 24, 1948 to Diego A. Allena Sr., a lawyer, and Trinidad Astorga Allena, a public school district supervisor, who both hailed from Zumarraga, Samar. Read More
JUDGE THELMA ALLENA PONFERRADA
Chief of Office for Academic Affairs
Research, Publications and Linkages Office
Professor Sedfrey M. Candelaria heads the Research, Publications and Linkages Office of the Philippine Judicial Academy (PHILJA), chairs its Department of Special Areas of Concern, and belongs to the PHILJA Corps of Professors. Read More
ATTY. SEDFREY M. CANDELARIA
Chief of Office, Research, Publications and Linkages Office, PHILJA
Administrative Office
Atty. Elmer DG. Eleria is currently the PHILJA Chief of Office for Administration. At one time, he was designated as the Acting Head of the Academic Affairs Office and the Concurrent Head of the Administrative Office.
Atty. Eleria obtained his Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Bachelor of Laws from Saint Louis University in Baguio City. He likewise took up a certificate course on Learning Design and Evaluation in the Research and Development of the Ateneo De Manila University Center for Organization. Read More
ATTY. ELMER DG. ELERIA
Chief of Office for Administration
Philippine Mediation Center Office
Judge Mona Lisa V. Tiongson-Tabora graduated with honors at the St. Paul College of Manila earning a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration degree in 1981. Two years later, she married her college sweetheart, Engr. Antonio R. Tabora, Jr., a former Vice Mayor and 3-term Councilor of Baguio City. A mother of five and grandmother of three, Judge Tabora completed her Bachelor of Laws degree at the top of her class graduating valedictorian and cum laude at the Baguio Colleges Foundation (now known as University of the Cordilleras) in 1991. Read More
JUDGE MONA LISA V. TIONGSON-TABORA
Chief of Office, Philippine Mediation Center Office
PHILJA Training Center Office
Mr. Romulo M. Abancio, Jr., is the PHILJA Chief of Office (General Manager) for Training Center (PTC), PHILJA’s state of the art facility for its training programs and activities. Prior to his appointment on November 18, 2020, he was the SC Chief Judicial Staff Officer (SC CJSO) of the Corporate Planning Division (CPD), Administrative Office. Read More
ROMULO M. ABANCIO, Jr.
PHILJA Chief of Office for Training Center (General Manager)
Who We Are
Academic Council
The Academic Council, composed of Chairpersons of 14 Academic Departments, and chaired by the Chancellor, reviews and approves trainings, programs and activities of the Academy and the membership in the Corps of Professors. It is also authorized to recommend implementation policies to the Academy.
The Corps of Professors is the official instructional force of PHILJA. It is composed of the Department Chairpersons and their members, incumbent Supreme Court Justices as special lecturers, full-time professors, part-time professors and professorial lecturers. Full List of Professors
What We Do
Programs and Courses
Core Programs
Orientation for Newly Appointed Judges
Upon appointment to the judiciary, judges undergo this program to prepare them for assumption of office and the discharge of their duties.
Special Focus Programs
Personal Security Training for Judges
Gives the participants a clear comprehension of the fundamentals precepts of safety and security precautions, thereby prompting an increase in awareness of the critical role they play towards the administration of justice.
Focus Group Discussion
Rules of Procedure for Environmental Cases
Aims to assess the application of the Rules of Procedure for Environmental Cases by the courts; identify provisions in the Rules that contribute to the attainment of its objectives and need enhancements to improve application of the Rules; identify additional provisions for further enhancement of the Rules.
Programs for Judges - Orientation Seminar-Workshop for Newly Appointed Judges, Judicial Career Enhancement Program, Seminar-Workshop for Executive Judges and Vice Executive Judges. Programs for Court Personnel - Orientation Seminar-Workshop for Newly Appointed Clerks of Court, Career Enhancement Program for Clerks of Court, Orientation Seminar-Workshop for Newly Appointed Sheriffs and Process Servers. Program for Judicial Aspirants - Pre-Judicature Program.
The special focus programs are thematic in nature and are designed for judges handling specialized cases or for court personnel performing specialized functions. Seminar on the Rules of Procedure on Financial Rehabilitation, Seminar-Workshop on Substantive Laws and Juriprudence on Intellectual Property.
Roundtable discussions provide a venue for communication and collaboration among the participants by broadening and enhancing the participants' outlook and knowledge on a specified field of law or a special area of concern in law or jurisprudence.
For more information please call our Manila line number +63 2 8552-5043
Our Partners
Judiciary Portals
History
The Philippine Judicial Academy was created by the Supreme Court on March 12, 1996, under the leadership of then Chief Justice Andres R. Narvasa, through the issuance of Administrative Order No. 35-96 Establishment of the Philippine Judicial Academy (PHILJA). It received its mandate on February 26, 1998, through Republic Act No. 8557 An Act Establishing the Philippine Judicial Academy, Defining its Powers and Functions, Appropriating Funds Therefor, and for other Purposes. This law institutionalized PHILJA as a “training school for justices, judges, court personnel, lawyers, and aspirants to judicial posts.”
When Chief Justice Hilario G. Davide, Jr. took his oath on November 30, 1998, he pledged to make the Supreme Court and the whole Judiciary worthy of public trust and confidence. He saw the vital role that continuing judicial education plays in ensuring judicial competence and efficiency. Given this “daunting task of institutionalizing continuing judicial education,” Chief Justice Davide remarked, is the PHILIPPINE JUDICIAL ACADEMY (PHILJA), “the [Supreme] Court’s implementing arm and the nation’s watchdog in the pursuit of excellence in the Judiciary.”
The Philippine Judicial Academy, a separate but component unit of the Supreme Court, has become an all-important factor in the promotion of judicial education in the Philippines. It receives full patronage and support from the Court which guarantees the participation of judges and court personnel in its programs and activities. In fact, no first and second level trial court judge would commence the discharge of adjudicative functions without undergoing the related courses prescribed by the Academy. The Judicial and Bar Council, constitutionally tasked to recommend appointments and promotions to the Judiciary, is also directed by law to consider the participation of judges in the programs of the Academy, pursuant to Republic Act No. 8557.
The Academy used to conduct its activities mainly at the former Ridge Convention Center, a facility located on a 3.7 hectare prime lot in Tagaytay City. This property was turned over to the Supreme Court on July 19, 1995, by then President Fidel V. Ramos, particularly for the Academy’s judicial and legal education activities. Following the donation to the Supreme Court of the shares of the stockholders (Appendix C PDCI List of Donors) of the Ridge Sports and Country Club Corporation (RSCCC), the facility was converted to the PHILJA Development Center, Inc. (PDCI) on June 5, 2003. In July 2008, the PHILJA Development Center was renamed the PHILJA Training Center, in order to avoid confusion with the corporate entity known as the PHILJA Development Center, Inc. (PDCI). With a generous P300M Non-Project Grant Assistance Counter Value Fund (NPGA-CVF) from the Government of Japan, PHILJA completed the construction of the PHILJA Training Center (PTC) in 2010, now the venue for many of the Academy’s training activities. The Center’s acquisition of modern furniture, fixtures and equipment for its training and meeting rooms and lodging facilities were made possible through funds from the World Bank. The PTC has since successfully hosted seminars, orientation and capacity building programs, various meetings and site visits, helping sustain the Academy’s vision and mission for judicial excellence while it leads in the field of judicial education.
On June 1, 2021, retired Supreme Court Associate Justice Arturo D. Brion took his oath as the third Chancellor of the Philippine Judicial Academy before Chief Justice Alexander G. Gesmundo. Justice Brion is expected to steer the 25-year-old Academy to even greater heights and develop its niche as the premier judicial institution providing globally relevant, responsive and effective training for the Judiciary in the ASEAN region.
PHILJA’s former illustrious chancellors were Chancellor Emeritus Justice Adolfo S. Azcuna, who ably served for 12 years (June 2009- May 2021), and Founding Chancellor Emeritus Justice Ameurfina A. Melencio Herrera, who was at the helm for 13 productive years (1996-May 2009).
Philosophy and Objectives
PHILJA adheres to the following philosophy:
The people are best served when the Judiciary is independent and its members are women and men of proven competence, integrity, probity, and independence.
Judicial education is an indispensable tool for ensuring an effective, independent and credible Judiciary.
PHILJA pursues the following objectives:
To foster sound values and attitudes, expertise in substantive and procedural laws; and develop management competence through courses, seminars and symposia for members of the Judiciary and quasi-judicial bodies;
To contribute to available legal literature of scholarly and practical significance to benefit the members of the Judiciary through the publication of a Judicial Journal and a Bulletin;
To integrate the Academy’s philosophy, principles and objectives and instructional programs in conventions, seminars, and other activities of the associations of judges and court personnel;
To conduct research to advance the frontiers of juridical science and court technology;
To develop and strengthen networking and partnership with other institutions towards the development and implementation of programs for continuing judicial education.
