Retiring Chief Justice Diosdado Peralta bids good-bye at flag ceremony. Photo/SC PIO
MANILA, Philippines – The “scaled-down” farewell ceremony was conducted Monday for the retirement of Chief Justice Diosdado Peralta due to recent prohibitions on mass gathering imposed in the wake of the increasing number of COVID-19 cases.
High court’s Public Information Office said the ceremony was done in hybrid – only a select few court employees have been allowed to physically attend the ceremony on open grounds while the rest were watching online.
“It was a scale-down from the previous traditional last flag-raising ceremony given to a retiring chief magistrate. It was without any arrival honors and attended only by a select few Court employees mostly coming from the Office of the Chief Justice, including the Chief Justice’s immediate family – his wife Court of Appeals Associate Justice Fernanda Lampas-Peralta and children,” the high court’s PIO explained in a statement.
Last week, the high court has suspended work to give way for the disinfection of its buildings. To date, high court’s Public Information Chief and Spokesperson Atty. Brian Keith Hosaka said there are currently 33 active COVID-19 cases at the high court.
During the flag ceremony, the attendees were wearing face masks and face shields and were spread out in the more than 1,200 square meter open grounds.
Aside from his immediate family and staff, also physically present are Associate Justices Rosmari Carandang and Henri Jean Paul Inting.
This is the first time after almost over a year that the high court observed a traditional flag-raising ceremony.
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