Ombudsman offices closed until April 13 due to COVID-19 outbreak

MANILA, Philippines – The Office of the Ombudsman’s main office and other regional offices in Cebu, Davao, Iloilo, Tacloban, and Cagayan de Oro will be closed until April 13, 2020 due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

This announcement, the Office said, came after President Rodrigo Duterte placed the entire Luzon under an enhanced community quarantine and a state calamity over the country.

“During this time, the reglementary period for the filing of pleadings, motions, affidavits, and other relevant documents before the Office of the Ombudsman shall be deemed interrupted, and the period of filing of such shall begin to run again on 14 April 2020,” the Ombudsman said in an announcement on its website on Wednesday.

“Corollary to this, the period for the rendition of decisions, resolutions, and/or other orders shall be deemed interrupted for the same period, and shall begin to run again on 14 April 2020,” the Office added.

Despite the temporary closure, the Office of the Ombudsman reminded the public that they can still file complaints and application through their website, www.ombudsman.gov.ph.

President Duterte’s enhanced community quarantine declaration has restricted movement of workers except for frontline workers like health workers, pharmacists, and skeleton service crews, to avoid the COVID-19 from spreading.

As of Wednesday noon, the Department of Health (DOH) said that there are 202 confirmed COVID-19 patients in the Philippines, 17 of which have died, and seven have recovered.

Majority of the incidents came from the elderly, meaning either those who are nearing their senior age or actual senior citizens.

READ: 15 new COVID-19 cases bring total to 202

The COVID-19 is a respiratory disease caused by the novel coronavirus that first emerged in China’s city of Wuhan in Hubei province in late 2019.

The International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses named the novel coronavirus as SARS-CoV-2.

Coronavirus is a family of viruses, which surfaces have a crown-like appearance. The viruses are named for the spikes on their surfaces.  Worldwide, over 193,000 COVID-19 cases have been recorded, while at least 7,865 have died.

Meanwhile, another 81,743 patients have recovered.