IT SEEMS the government has a troubling habit when it comes to infrastructure problems: action often comes only after disaster strikes. Buildings are repaired after they collapse. Regulations are tightened after lives are lost. Investigations are launched only after tragedy forces the government to respond. It is a dangerous pattern — one that the situation surrounding the Iloilo Hall of Justice now starkly brings into focus.
The Chief Justice Ramon Q. Avanceña Hall of Justice in Iloilo City has long carried the burden of structural concerns. As far back as February 2012, when a magnitude 5.7 earthquake struck the region, cracks appeared in the building, raising serious doubts about its structural integrity. Judges, lawyers, and court personnel at the time urged authorities to construct a new Hall of Justice instead of simply patching up the old one.
Yet the decisive action many hoped for never came.
Instead, the building underwent retrofitting — an interim solution meant to extend its life. More than a decade later, the structure still stands, but the questions surrounding its safety remain. Even now, after another earthquake rattled the region on March 2, authorities are again waiting for structural assessments while a portion of the courts continues to operate in the aging building.
This situation should make everyone uneasy.
The justice system is too important to operate under a cloud of uncertainty. Every day, judges, lawyers, court staff, and ordinary citizens pass through the Hall of Justice to resolve disputes that shape lives and livelihoods. The building is a critical public institution where the rule of law is upheld. Yet the physical structure that houses this institution has long been the subject of concern.
The situation also reflects a broader national problem. Too often, infrastructure reforms in the country are reactive rather than preventive. Authorities act only when public outrage erupts after a collapse, a fire, or a deadly accident. The lessons come late — and often at a tragic cost.
We cannot afford that kind of lesson inside a courthouse.
The Iloilo provincial government has even offered land in New Lucena town as a potential site for a new judiciary complex. This is most welcome, but it must lead to concrete decisions — not prolonged deliberations that leave the issue unresolved for another decade.
The time to act is before tragedy, not after.
Iloilo has already seen how earthquakes can damage structures and disrupt institutions. The cracks that appeared in 2012 were warning signs. The scattered relocation of several courts is another indication that confidence in the old structure is no longer absolute.
Warnings, once ignored, have a way of returning with greater urgency.
The Hall of Justice symbolizes the stability of the legal system. It should be a place where people feel secure, not a structure whose safety is periodically questioned after every tremor.
Authorities now face a clear choice: address the problem decisively while there is still time, or risk becoming another example of the country’s unfortunate tradition of acting only after disaster forces the issue.
Justice should never have to wait for tragedy before being protected.
