THE Supreme Court (SC) has announced that local courts in nine areas that were recently placed under Alert Level (AL) 1 are now fully operational.
These courts are located in Luzon such as Nueva Ecija, Zambales, Batangas, and Lucena City; in Visayas, namely Iloilo City, Cebu City, Ormoc City, and Tacloban City; and Butuan City in Mindanao, which are all now under AL1.
In a three-page circular issued by Court Administrator Raul Villanueva, SC said the courts and judicial offices in these provinces would be fully operational with a full on-site staff complement to report for work.
On the other hand, the circular said judges who have no court space or facilities of their own, but they already have their own personnel, may maintain a skeleton work force of at least 75 percent.
Night courts are also allowed to operate in stations where these have been organized or required. The executive judges in these areas may also conduct jail visitations.
The courts in areas that were earlier downgraded to AL1 would observe the same guidelines.
The circular was issued upon the approval of SC Chief Justice Alexander Gesmundo, in line with the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) Resolution No. 164-D issued last March 15 placing these provinces and highly urbanized cities (HUCs) under AL1 effective March 16 to 31.
As for the 57 areas mentioned in the same IATF Resolution No. 164-D that would remain under AL2 until March 31, the SC’s Office of the Court Administrator (OCA) said the local courts and the judicial offices in these areas would be physically open and maintain a skeletal workforce of at least 80 percent.
Judges without court space or facilities of their own, but already have their own personnel, are obliged to maintain a skeleton workforce of at least 50 percent to at most 75 percent.
The night courts in these areas, however, are still prohibited from operating.
“All common court operation guidelines for areas under Alert Levels 1 and 2, as cited in OCA Circular No. 41-2022, shall continue to be in force. Further, all other issuances of the Court or the OCA that are inconsistent herewith will no longer be applicable to the courts in areas under either Alert Level 1 or 2,” Villanueva said.
The SC reminded the courts, judges and staff to continue observing all the health and safety protocols against Covid-19 that have been prescribed by the Court and the OCA, the IATF and the Department of Health.
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