SC chief cracks down on TROs

MANILA, Philippines — Chief Justice Diosdado Peralta has required all justices and judges of lower courts to submit to his office copies of all temporary restraining orders (TROs), status quo ante orders (SQAs), writs of preliminary injunction (WPIs) and orders of voluntary inhibition that they will be issuing.

The copy furnishing of the issuances, provided in two administrative orders issued by Peralta’s office, is part of the strict monitoring that the Chief Justice plans to undertake as part of his 10-point program which includes integrity, efficiency, service and security.

Previously, the issuances are included by justices and judges in their monthly reports to the Office of the Court Administrator (OCA).

Peralta’s office, however, found out that the monthly reports did not reflect the “qualitative details” of the issuances.

Starting March 1, justices of the Court of Appeals, the Sandiganbayan, the Court of Tax Appeals and all trial court judges must submit to the Chief Justice’s office as well as the OCA copies of TROs, SQAs, WPIs and orders of voluntary inhibition that they issued within five days from their release.

The copies may either be emailed or sent by postal mail to the Chief Justice’s office.

Legal remedies

TROs, SQAs and WPIs are legal remedies issued by courts upon request by a litigant claiming that he would suffer injustice due to the commission, continuance or nonperformance of the act that he is complaining about.

A TRO is issued before litigation begins while a WPI is issued during litigation. An SQA orders parties to revert to the original state of things before the case was filed before the court.In his order, Peralta cited a Supreme Court decision in 2006 which stated that an injunction is an extraordinary remedy to be resorted to when there is a pressing necessity to avoid injurious consequences that cannot be remedied under any standard compensation.

A court may issue an injunction only if it is fully convinced of its extreme necessity and after it has complied with the procedural requirements set by law, according to the decision.

The Chief Justice also said the high tribunal ruled in a 2014 case that every court should remember that an injunction should not be granted lightly or precipitately because it is a limitation upon the freedom of the defendant’s action.