MANILA — The Supreme Court (SC) has officially received a 25-hectare land parcel from the Department of Transportation (DOTr) in Barangay Bambang, Bulakan, Bulacan, which will serve as the site for the new judicial complex. This move is part of a broader government initiative to streamline and modernize the country’s judicial facilities.

In an interview on Friday, Justice Jose Midas Marquez revealed that the Bulacan property is larger than the initial site in Taguig City where the SC had planned to build the complex. The high court is optimistic that construction will begin by 2025.

The land is part of a concession agreement between the government and San Miguel Aerocity, Inc. (SMAI), which involves a 100-hectare donation to the government for the development of a Government Center Land Area in Bulacan. The Memorandum of Agreement between the SC, DOTr, and SMAI was signed on September 19, 2024. Under the agreement, the DOTr is tasked with transferring the 25-hectare parcel to the SC for the judicial complex.

The planned state-of-the-art judicial complex will house several key institutions, including the Supreme Court, Court of Appeals, Sandiganbayan, and the Court of Tax Appeals. It will also accommodate more than 80 regional trial courts and up to 30 metropolitan trial courts, which are currently located in various buildings around Manila, such as the Manila City Hall, the old Ombudsman building, and the former Masagana Complex along Kalaw Street.

Meanwhile, Justice Marquez confirmed that the long-awaited Manila City Hall of Justice is set to begin construction in the first quarter of 2025.

The property in Bulacan is part of a larger development project tied to the New Manila International Airport (NMIA). SMAI, a wholly-owned subsidiary of San Miguel Holdings Corporation, had previously signed an agreement with the government in September 2019 to develop the airport and its surrounding infrastructure. In 2020, Republic Act No. 11506 granted SMAI the legislative franchise to construct and operate the airport and an adjacent Airport City.

At present, the Supreme Court occupies the former University Library building and the Villamor Hall building, while the Court of Appeals is located in the former Engineering building on the University of the Philippines Manila campus.

The location in Bulacan, near the towns of Obando, Guiguinto, and Malolos City, is expected to provide a significant boost to the region’s infrastructure and legal sector. The multi-story judicial complex is anticipated to improve the accessibility and efficiency of the country’s judicial system by consolidating numerous courts into a centralized, modern facility.

📷 Supreme Court