Court Operations from 16 February 2022 until Further Orders of the Court

February 14, 2022

OCA CIRCULAR NO. 34-2022

 

Upon consulting with Chief Justice Alexander G. Gesmundo, and pursuant to his instructions, as the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) issued IATF Resolution No. 161-A dated 14 February 2022 placing provinces, highly urbanized cities (HUCs), and independent component cities (ICCs) under their respective Alert Levels 2 and 3 classifications effective 16 February 2022 until 28 February 2022, court operations in the concerned areas from 16 February 2022 until further orders of the Court shall be governed by the applicable provisions of OCA Circular No. 134-2021 dated 5 November 2021, as amended by OCA Circular No. 146-2021 dated 29 November 2021, subject to adjustments on the required skeleton workforce, as follows:

AREAS UNDER ALERT LEVEL 3

Region 6: Iloilo City, Iloilo Province, GuimarasRegion 9: Zamboanga CityRegion 11: Davao de Oro, Davao OccidentalRegion 12: South Cotabato

COURT OPERATIONS GUIDELINES (Alert Level 3)

[ ] Maintain a workforce of at least 60%, 1 to enable the courts/judicial offices to address matters and concerns, as far as practicable

[ ] Judges shall maximize videoconferencing hearings and refrain from requiring parties to appear in-court, except in urgent matters and in other matters as they may determine. However, in-court attendance shall still be limited to lawyers, parties and witnesses required to participate in-court

[ ] For Saturday Duty, per Admin. Circular No. 02-2007 dated 12 January 2007, maintain a skeleton workforce of at least 60%

[ ] For Judges without court space or facilities of their own, but they already have their own personnel, maintain a skeleton workforce of at least 30% to at most 50%

AREAS UNDER ALERT LEVEL 2

LUZONNational Capital RegionRegion 1

VISAYAS (except Iloilo City, Iloilo Province and Guimaras)Region 7

MINDANAO (except Zamboanga City)Region 10 (except Davao de Oro and Davao Occidental)Region 12 (except South Cotabato)Region 13 (CARAGA)BARMM (Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao)

COURT OPERATIONS GUIDELINES (Alert Level 2)

[ ] Maintain a skeleton workforce of at least 80%, 2 to enable the courts/judicial offices to address matters and concerns, as far as practicable

[ ] Judges may continue to conduct videoconferencing hearings in cases that do not require in-court appearances. Videoconferencing hearings shall be done in the courtrooms pursuant to Section II (B) (1) of A.M. No. 20-12-01-SC dated 09 December 2020 (Guidelines on the Conduct of Videoconferencing)

[ ] For Saturday Duty, pursuant to Admin. Circular No. 02-2007 dated 12 January 2007, maintain a skeleton workforce of at least 80%

[ ] For Judges without court space or facilities of their own, but they already have their own personnel, maintain a skeleton workforce of at least 50% to at most 75%

In addition to the above, the following are the common court operations guidelines for areas under Alert Levels 2 and 3:

COMMON COURT OPERATIONS GUIDELINES (Alert Levels 2 & 3)

[ ] Courts and judicial offices are PHYSICALLY OPEN

[ ] Pleadings, motions and other court submissions may likewise be filed or served by registered mail, through the services of duly accredited private couriers, or by transmitting them through electronic mail in accordance with the existing electronic filing guidelines, regardless of the Alert Level or Community Quarantine classification

[ ] The period for filing and service of pleadings and other court submissions shall no longer be suspended, regardless of the Alert Level or Community Quarantine Classification, since the same may be done electronically

[ ] In case an area is placed under a conflicting Alert Level System and Community Quarantine Classification, as categorized herein, the more restrictive court operation as provided in the Alert Level System or Community Quarantine Classification shall prevail

[ ] Night courts are not yet allowed in all Alert Levels or Community Quarantine classifications

[ ] Regular office hours as prescribed in OCA Circular No. 09-2015 dated 21 January 2015 shall be observed, i.e., Monday to Friday, 8:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M. (for Judicial Regions 1 to 12) and 8:00 A.M. to 4:30 P.M. (for National Capital Judicial Region)

Accordingly, all other issuances of the Court or the Office of the Court Administrator (OCA) that are not consistent herewith will no longer be applicable to the courts in areas under either Alert Level 2 or 3.

In the event that there are pressing concerns that the Judges or court personnel may have regarding their operations from 16 February 2022, the same should be referred to the OCA for appropriate action.

For the strict compliance and observance of all concerned.

(SGD.) RAUL BAUTISTA VILLANUEVADeputy Court Administrator and OCA Officer-in-Charge(Per Memorandum Order No. 108-2021 dated 17 November 2021)

Footnotes

1. Based on the "Guidelines on the Nationwide Implementation of Alert Level System for COVID-19 Response" of the IATF as of 14 December 2021, Sec. 4 (4).

2. Id., Sec. 5 (4).