Court gavel. INQUIRER.net stock photo
MANILA, Philippines — Courts in areas under COVID-19 Alert Levels 1 and 2 will remain physically open, with 50 to 70 percent of their workforce reporting for duty.
This is the rule set by the Supreme Court under a circular issued Monday, which aims to guide courts if such pandemic alerts are raised by the national government while ensuring operational continuity.
The circular was signed by Court Administrator Raul Villanueva.
According to the Office of the Court Administrator (OCA), the circular also provided that judges without court space but already have their personnel will maintain a skeleton workforce of at least 30 percent.
No Saturday duty is allowed, and night courts are not allowed to operate in stations where these have been organized or required, the circular added.
“If the IATF places a particular province under Alert Level 2 but identifies certain cities or municipalities therein under Alert Level 1 or places an area under a conflicting alert level system with a more restrictive health protocol, such classification will not in any way affect the observance of the required court operation guidelines,” the circular likewise states.
Under COVID-19 Alert Levels 1 and 2, the circular said pleadings, motions, and other court submissions might be filed or served by registered mail through the duly-accredited private couriers or by transmitting through email following previous guidelines.
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Personal filing and follow-up of cases are allowed, subject to strict health protocols, it stressed.
The OCA further noted that face-to-face hearings are a priority based on the circular.
It said all judges are allowed until April 30 to conduct fully remote videoconferencing hearings, at most thrice in a week, regardless of their location in the country, with notice to the OCA.
The OCA also said court personnel who are not scheduled to report for work physically should be considered under a work-from-home arrangement.
The Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) placed 26 provinces and cities under Alert Level 2 from April 16-30 as it approved the recommendation of the sub-Technical Working Group for Data Analytics.
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Department of Health (DOH) officer-in-charge Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire and Interior and Local Government Secretary Benhur Abalos signed the resolution, which placed the 26 areas under Alert Level 2 for 15 days, on April 14.
“While these areas have reached low-risk classifications for cases and utilization rates, these have vaccination rates lower than 70% of the target total and population and/or 70% of the total A2 population (senior citizens),” explained the DOH.
“Meeting these targets will allow these areas to be de-escalated to Alert Level 1. Also, no province or city has been escalated to Alert Level 2 from Alert Level 1 since January 2023,” it added.