ILIGAN CITY –– For the second time, authorities opted to close Marawi City’s Hall of Justice (HOJ) building–this time for 14 days–to give way to its intensive disinfection after a lawyer and an old-timer who roamed around the premises tested positive for COVID-19.
Executive Judge Wenida Papandayan ordered the 14-day closure and for employees to work from home after a “senior citizen” male lawyer who appeared for his case at the Shariah District Court on August 27 roamed around the building before he learned he was infected.
The 14-day closure took effect on Monday, September 7.
The lawyer has been symptomatic with pneumonia and has recently been admitted to a hospital, according to Papandayan.
The results of his swab samples came out on Sunday, September 6, confirming his COVID-19 infection.
“Every time he comes to the Hall of Justice, it has been his practice to roam around and pass by different courts and offices. He was a former chapter president of the IBP (Integrated Bar of the Philippines),” Papandayan said.
The 14-day closure of the HOJ building had been approved by the Office of the Court Administrator (OCA) for Mindanao Leo Tolentino Madrazo.
OCA Circular No. 101-2020 ordered all judges and court personnel to observe proper health guidelines to stop the spread of COVID-19 cases.
This was the second time for court officials to close the HOJ building because of threats of spreading the COVID-19 infection.
In August, the building was closed for four days after the husband of an employee of the Public Attorney’s Office (PAO) contracted the disease. The husband was a regular dialysis patient at Amail Pakpak Medical Center in Marawi City, where he was exposed to a COVID-19 patient.
Since the first closure, HOJ adopted more stringent health protocols. It stopped receiving walk-in inquiries, requests, and transactions, but instead, asked litigants, counsels, and court users to relay their requests through mobile phones, email addresses, and social media accounts to minimize possible exposure.