Gov’t agencies told to issue guidelines on interrupted filing of docs due to COVID-19

MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte has directed all government agencies to formulate guidelines on the interrupted periods for filing of documents and the like caused by the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.

Guidelines on payment of taxes, charges, and other feeds, cancellation of proceedings before their respective offices and the movement of timelines for release of benefits must also be crafted, Duterte’s Administrative Order No. 30 signed Tuesday stated.

Malacañang released a copy of the order on Wednesday.

“Reglementary period and proceedings for urgent cases which are necessary to enable the government to act expeditiously on matters affecting the current public health emergency shall not be interrupted or canceled,” the AO noted.

The order also said the directive shall only be applied in areas a community quarantine was declared.

Heads of government agencies were also asked to ensure that the guidelines they will issue be consistent with the directives of the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases and the Office of the President.

They are also “encouraged to provide relevant and timely recommendations to the IATF” regarding the implementation of the order.

The Luzon-wide enhanced community is targeted to be lifted by April 30 but its fate, on whether it will be extended or modified, has yet to be decided by the President.

Several local governments nationwide also placed their respective areas under quarantine to curb the COVID-19 crisis.

As of Wednesday, there are 6,710 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the country. Of the number, 446 persons have died and 693 persons have recovered.