Courts in Metro Manila, ECQ, MECQ areas 'physically closed' until August 14
MANILA, Philippines — The Supreme Court ordered the physical closure of courts in Metro Manila and other localities under stricter quarantine protocols from August 3 to 14 amid rising COVID-19 infections.
Chief Justice Diosdado Peralta on Sunday night directed courts under the National Capital Judicial Region as well as those in areas under enhanced community Quarantine or modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) "physically closed to all court users" until August 14.
Courts covered by the order can be reached through their respective hotlines, email addresses and/or Facebook accounts. Inquiries on transactions and requests for documents may also be coursed through these channels.
The announcement came prior to Malacañang’s move to revert Metro Manila, Rizal, Bulacan, Laguna and Cavite to MECQ status from August 4 to 18, following the recommendation of the inter-agency task force on COVID-19.
This was after medical professionals and frontliners over the weekend urged the national government to reform and recalibrate its response to the COVID-19 pandemic, slamming what they called the administration's militarist approach.
Higher courts operations
The SC’s essential offices and services shall continue in-court with a skeleton staff during the period.
Sessions by the tribunal as a full court and its three divisions meanwhile will be held through videoconferencing.
The Court of Appeals, Sandiganbayan and Court of Tax Appeals shall continue to receive petitions and pleadings electronically, and resolve cases pending before them. Hearings will be held through videoconferencing.
Regional trial courts, family courts and first level courts
All pleadings for civil and criminal cases shall be filed electronically to the branch where the case is pending.
Courts are also authorized to hear the cases through videoconferencing. “In-court hearings may be conducted should the judge find them to be necessary,” Peralta said.
A skeleton staff, assigned by the executive judge, will attend to concerns that may not be addressed online.
Night courts and Saturday courts shall also remain suspended until August 14.
In the past four days, the Department of Health reported record high tallies for single-day new coronavirus. On Sunday, it logged 5,032 new infections, pushing the national tally to 103,185.
Metro Manila and other areas in the NCR Plus bubble go into the more relaxed Modified ECQ starting April 12. MECQ has more restrictions than the general community quarantine. Bookmark this page for updates. Photo by The STAR/Michael Varcas
The Department of Health registers an additional 20,741 new COVID-19 infections, the second highest daily increase since the pandemic started.
- Active cases: 157,646 or 7.6% of the total
- Recoveries: 21,962 or, bringing total to 1,869,376
- Deaths: 189, raising toll to 34,062
The Philippines logs a new record high of 22,366 new COVID-19 infections, pushing the total to 1,976,202.
- Recoveries: 16,864 new; 1,797,278 total
- Deaths: 222 new; 33,330 total
- Active cases: 148,594 or 7.5% of total
Ngayong 4 PM, Agosto 30, 2021, ang Department of Health ay nakapagtala ng 22,366 na karagdagang kaso ng COVID-19. Samantala ay mayroon namang naitalang 16,864 na gumaling at 222 na pumanaw.
— Department of Health (@DOHgovph) August 30, 2021
Sa kabuuang bilang ng mga naitalang kaso sa bansa, 7.5% (148,594) ang aktibong kaso, pic.twitter.com/K3z9qxTqHu
The Department of Health logs 17,447 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the national tally to 1,916,461.
- Active cases: 142,531 or 7.4% of the total
- Recoveries: 6,771, bringing the number to 1,741,089
- Deaths: 113, or now 32,841 in total
The Philippines records a new record high of 18,332 COVID-19 cases, the highest single daily rise since the pandemic started. Coronavirus tally in the country is now at 1,857,646.
- Recoveries: 13,794 new; 1,695,335 total
- Deaths: 151 new; 31,961 total
- Active cases: 130,350 or 7% of total
Ngayong 4 PM, Agosto 23, 2021, ang Department of Health ay nakapagtala ng 18,332 na karagdagang kaso ng COVID-19. Samantala ay mayroon namang naitalang 13,794 na gumaling at 151 na pumanaw.
— Department of Health (@DOHgovph) August 23, 2021
Sa kabuuang bilang ng mga naitalang kaso sa bansa, 7.0% (130,350) ang aktibong kaso, pic.twitter.com/JPIDDFWz0Z
The Department of Health logs 16,694 more COVID-19 infections, bringing the national tally to 1,824,051.
- Active cases: 123,935 or 6.8% of the total
- Recoveries: 15,805, pushing total to 1,668,520
- Deaths: 398, bringing total to 31,596
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