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ANALYTICAL OPINION | Why Midas Marquez’s Leadership Could Matter to Philippine Businesses: A Stronger Judiciary, A Stronger Economy | By strengthening the justice system, the Philippines could also strengthen the confidence of entrepreneurs, investors, and businesses of every size.
When business leaders talk about economic growth, the usual priorities come up: lower operating costs, better infrastructure, affordable financing, stable energy, improved logistics, and a business-friendly regulatory environment.
But there is another economic foundation that deserves just as much attention: a reliable, efficient, and accessible justice system.
For a small entrepreneur waiting for a court decision on an unpaid business transaction, a manufacturer dealing with a contractual dispute, a property developer facing a prolonged legal challenge, or a foreign investor evaluating whether to bring capital into the Philippines, the efficiency of the courts can make a real difference.
Justice delayed is not merely a legal inconvenience. It can become an economic cost.
This is why the proposed judicial leadership agenda of Supreme Court Associate Justice Jose Midas P. Marquez deserves attention from the Philippine business community.
His proposed Strategic Plan for Judicial Innovations 2.0 (SPJI 2.0), covering 2028 to 2032, presents an opportunity to connect judicial modernization with the country’s broader economic ambitions. (Daily Tribune: Marquez outlines five-year judicial reform plan)
When Faster Justice Means Better Business Conditions
Businesses operate on agreements, commitments, and trust. Suppliers must be paid. Contracts must be honored. Property rights must be protected. Commercial disputes must have a fair and reasonably timely resolution.
When legal disputes drag on, money can remain tied up, expansion plans can be postponed, and businesses may spend more on legal and administrative costs.
For smaller enterprises, these problems can be particularly damaging. Unlike large corporations, micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) often have limited financial reserves to absorb prolonged disputes.
The World Bank has explained that efficient courts support economic development by strengthening contract enforcement, protecting property rights, improving credit markets, and creating better conditions for investment and business growth. Read the World Bank’s analysis on how court efficiency can boost economic growth and its explanation of why enforcing contracts matters.
Marquez’s proposed goal of eliminating overburdened courts by 2032 therefore has implications beyond the judiciary.
His proposed approach includes nationwide docket analysis, identifying bottlenecks, specialized training for judges, capacity-building, and working toward additional courts in areas where caseloads justify them.
If implemented effectively, these measures could help create a more predictable environment for commercial transactions and dispute resolution.
For businesses, predictability is valuable. It allows owners and investors to make decisions with greater confidence.
Digital Courts: Less Paperwork, More Productivity
Perhaps one of the most exciting dimensions of Marquez’s proposed agenda is digital transformation.
His vision includes expanding eCourt PH, digitizing court records, developing real-time case-tracking systems, introducing AI-assisted information portals and help-desk chatbots, and accelerating the online publication of finalized court decisions and resolutions.
These proposals are discussed in the Daily Tribune’s report on Marquez’s five-year judicial modernization plan and its October 26 report on his proposed SPJI 2.0 agenda.
Consider what these changes could mean for businesses.
An entrepreneur who needs information about a pending case could eventually access updates digitally instead of repeatedly visiting a courthouse. Lawyers could benefit from better access to records and decisions. Companies could spend less time navigating administrative processes and more time concentrating on operations.
For MSMEs, even small improvements in time and administrative efficiency can matter.
Digitalization can also support greater transparency. When information is easier to access and court processes become more trackable, businesses and individuals have better opportunities to understand where their cases stand.
And with AI-assisted information services, basic inquiries could become easier to navigate, provided that these tools are properly governed, secure, accurate, and supported by human assistance.
Technology will never replace judicial independence or the judgment of judges. Its purpose should be to make the delivery of justice more efficient and accessible.
Continuity Is Good for Business
There is another important aspect of Marquez’s proposal: continuity.
His stated intention is not to discard the Supreme Court’s existing Strategic Plan for Judicial Innovations 2022–2027, but to sustain and strengthen reforms already underway.
As reported by the Daily Tribune, Marquez has described his goal as sustaining and strengthening transformative reforms rather than beginning anew.
This is a principle familiar to business leaders.
Companies cannot build long-term competitiveness if every change in leadership means abandoning existing programs, replacing systems, and starting over. Successful organizations build on what works, correct what does not, and continuously improve.
The same principle applies to the judiciary.
Judicial modernization requires investment, training, infrastructure, institutional cooperation, and time. Digital systems must be adopted across courts. Personnel must be equipped to use them. New procedures must become part of everyday operations.
A five-year roadmap can provide a framework for continuity, accountability, and measurable progress.
For investors considering long-term commitments to the Philippines, a judiciary that consistently improves its systems and preserves effective reforms can contribute to a more stable institutional environment.
Supporting the People Who Deliver Justice
Modernization is not simply about computers and software. It is also about people.
Marquez’s agenda recognizes the importance of strengthening the training, welfare, and institutional support of judges and court employees.
This matters because the quality of public service depends heavily on the people delivering it.
Better-trained personnel, improved facilities, appropriate staffing, and stronger administrative support can help courts handle their responsibilities more effectively.
His proposed people-centered approach also includes improving access to justice through mobile services, better courthouse infrastructure, and more accessible services for communities that face geographical or financial barriers. These priorities are outlined in the Daily Tribune’s coverage of SPJI 2.0.
For businesses operating outside Metro Manila, stronger provincial court infrastructure could be particularly important. Economic activity is not concentrated in the capital alone. Regional entrepreneurs, agricultural enterprises, manufacturers, tourism operators, and local investors also need dependable access to justice.
The Bigger Economic Picture
The connection between judicial efficiency and national competitiveness is increasingly recognized internationally.
The OECD’s 2026 Economic Survey of the Philippines identifies stronger adherence to the rule of law—including better contract enforcement, respect for property rights, and improved court quality—as an important structural reform area with potential long-term growth benefits.
Its analysis estimates that improvements in public governance, including these rule-of-law measures, could contribute 0.4 percentage points to long-term potential growth under its illustrative reform scenario. This is a modeled estimate for a broader governance reform package, not a forecast of the economic impact of Marquez’s proposed agenda. (OECD 2026 Economic Survey, Chapter 2)
This reinforces an important point: economic development is not driven by infrastructure and investment incentives alone. Strong institutions matter.
A more efficient judiciary can help create conditions in which businesses compete fairly, investors assess risks more confidently, and entrepreneurs have greater confidence that their legal rights can be protected.
These improvements will not automatically produce economic growth. Nor can the Chief Justice alone resolve the country’s investment, employment, infrastructure, or productivity challenges. Judicial reform must work alongside reforms across government and the private sector.
But a stronger justice system can be an important part of the country’s economic foundation.
A Judiciary That Helps Move the Philippines Forward
Marquez brings more than three decades of experience within the Supreme Court, including almost 12 years as Court Administrator before his appointment as Associate Justice in 2021. His career background and proposed reform agenda are detailed in the Daily Tribune’s October 26 report.
That background gives him direct familiarity with the administrative challenges facing courts across the country.
His proposed SPJI 2.0 offers a vision built around institutional continuity, digital transformation, reduced court congestion, personnel development, and more accessible judicial services.
The real test, of course, will be implementation. Targets must translate into measurable results. Digital systems must work. Backlogs must decline. Court users must experience meaningful improvements. Judicial independence and impartiality must remain uncompromised.
For Philippine businesses, the stakes are significant.
A small business deserves a justice system that does not drain its limited resources through unnecessary delays. A large corporation deserves predictable and impartial contract enforcement. An investor deserves confidence in the protection of legitimate rights. And every Filipino deserves access to a judicial system that works.
A stronger economy needs more than business-friendly policies. It needs institutions that people can trust.
If the next Chief Justice can help build a judiciary that is faster, more accessible, technologically capable, and consistent in its reforms, the benefits could reach far beyond the courthouse.
They could reach the factory floor, the neighborhood store, the boardroom, the farm, the construction site, and every Filipino enterprise working to grow.
Because when justice works better, business confidence has a stronger foundation—and when businesses have confidence, the Philippine economy has more room to move forward.
[Publication note: The links above distinguish Marquez’s proposed agenda, as reported by news outlets, from the broader economic research published by the World Bank and OECD. The proposed reforms are not yet established outcomes, and the article appropriately presents their economic benefits as potential rather than guaranteed.]
