Guidelines on the Electronic Filing of Complaints, Other Pleadings, and/or Motions during the Enhanced Community Quarantine ("ECQ") Period Due to the Corona Virus Disease 2019 ("COVID-19") Pandemic

April 17, 2020

INSURANCE CIRCULAR LETTER NO. 2020-44

Supplements: IMC No. 1993-1; IMC No. 2014-01; IMC No. 2016-01; IMC No. 2017-01; & IMC No. 2020-01

 

Pursuant to the undersigned's powers under Sections 437, 438, and 439 of the Insurance Code of the Philippines, as amended by Republic Act No. 10607; Section 55 of Republic Act No. 9829, otherwise known as the Pre-Need Code of the Philippines; and Section 4 of Executive Order No. 192, series of 2015, the following Guidelines on the Electronic Filing of Complaints, Other Pleadings, and/or Motions during the Enhanced Community Quarantine Period ("ECQ") Due to the Corona Virus Disease 2019 ("COVID-19") Pandemic are hereby adopted and promulgated, to wit:

SECTION 1. Electronic Filing of Complaints, Other Pleadings, and/or Motions during the ECQ Period. — The electronic filing of: (1) complaints, which include Statements of Claim under the relevant provisions of IMC No. 2016-01 dated 1 September 2016, as amended by IMC No. 2020-01 dated 21 February 2020; (2) other pleadings; and/or (3) motions that are cognizable by this Commission's Claims Adjudication Division ("CAD") or Regulation, Enforcement, and Prosecution Division ("REPD") shall be temporarily allowed through electronic mail ("e-mail") for the duration of the Enhanced Community Quarantine Period 1 ("ECQ"), or any extension thereof as may be ordered by lawful authorities.

SECTION 2. Format. — All such complaints, other pleadings, and/or motions, and the annexes of the same, if any, shall be transmitted to the following e-mail address in Portable Document Format ("PDF"):

[email protected]

Pieces of evidence that are not documentary in nature may be photographed and converted into PDF, but must be authenticated by a certification of the person submitting such evidence as a true photo reproduction thereof.

SECTION 3. Commencement of Actions. — The commencement of an action or suit brought before the CAD in accordance with IMC No. 2014-01, IMC No. 2016-01, as amended by IMC No. 2020-01, and IMC No. 2017-01 during the ECQ Period, or any extension thereof, shall be reckoned from the date of this Commission's actual receipt of the electronically transmitted initiatory pleading and its complete annex/es.

Within ten (10) working days from the cessation of the ECQ Period, the concerned complainant shall pay the corresponding docketing/filing fees. Notwithstanding the provisions of the immediately preceding paragraph, however, the electronically transmitted initiatory pleading shall only be docketed by the CAD after the payment of said docketing/filing fees.

The commencement of an action or suit brought before the REPD in accordance with IMC-1993-1 during the ECQ Period, or any extension thereof shall likewise be reckoned from the date of the Commission's actual receipt of the electronically transmitted initiatory pleading and its complete annex/es and the same shall be docketed immediately.

SECTION 4. Submission of Originals of the Electronically Transmitted Documents. — Concerned litigants shall submit the originals of the electronically transmitted documents within ten (10) working days from the cessation of the ECQ Period without need of an order directing the submission thereof.

SECTION 5. Separability Clause. — If any provision of this Circular Letter shall be held unconstitutional or invalid, the other provisions not otherwise affected shall remain in full force and effect.

SECTION 6. Effectivity. — This Circular Letter shall take effect immediately. Notwithstanding the foregoing, however, these Guidelines are only temporary and shall be in effect only for the duration of the ECQ Period, or any extension thereof. Thus, these Guidelines may be revised at any time should prevailing circumstances change, and until further notice.

(SGD.) DENNIS B. FUNAInsurance Commissioner

Footnotes

1. Until 11:59 p.m. of 30 April 2020, unless extended by lawful authorities.