SC sets transfer of certain court cases from Makati to Taguig

Starting next year, cases arising from crimes and other offenses committed within the Fort Bonifacio Military Reservation (FBMR) and other areas recently reaffirmed to be part of Taguig City will be transferred to the local courts of Taguig from Makati City, the Supreme Court said on Friday.

According to the guidelines released by the high tribunal, cases emanating from Parcels 3 and 4 of the area called PSU-2031 of the FBMR will be filed in the Taguig City Prosecutor’s Office starting Jan. 1, 2024.

Those of crimes committed in the same areas before Jan. 1, 2024, will still be filed in the Makati City Prosecutor’s office.

All civil and criminal cases already filed and pending before the first and second-level courts of Makati before Jan. 1 will proceed to trial, be heard, and ultimately be decided by the respective Makati City courts where they were pending, the Supreme Court added.

Preparation

The guidelines were issued in response to a letter from Taguig City Mayor Lani Cayetano who requested that the transfer of jurisdiction to the Taguig courts be set last Oct. 16.

“However, to enable the courts, the prosecution, the Public Attorney’s Office and other court users to prepare, the Supreme Court set the effective date for the transfer to Jan. 1, 2024,” the tribunal said.

The guidelines reaffirm the April 2023 decision of the Supreme Court declaring 10 barangays—including the financial district of Bonifacio Global City, the Fort Bonifacio military camp and the Manila American Cemetery—to be part of Taguig and not Makati.

—Jacob Lazaro