SC declares additional holidays for courts

MANILA, Philippines – The Supreme Court (SC) has declared additional non-working days for the holiday break in all courts nationwide.

In Circular No. 270-105, SC Court Administrator Jose Midas Marquez told the court personnel in appellate courts and trial courts that next Wednesday, Dec. 23, has been declared a non-working holiday.

The circular also provided for a half-day’s work on the following Tuesday, Dec. 29.

The additional non-working holiday and half-day work will be on top of the upcoming three regular holidays (Dec. 25 and 30 and Jan. 1) and two special non-working holidays (Dec. 24 and 31).

The SC approved the additional holidays in its order on Administrative Matter No. 14-10-03.

Chief Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno earlier said the high court is ready to act on election cases that could need urgent action during the holiday break.

“In fact, we understand and it is clear to us that this Christmas season will not be a usual season for us. There might be things that we need to set aside because of the urgency of matters that need to be resolved,” she said in an interview last week.

“So we are keenly aware of all of those and you can see that most of the justices will be making themselves available for any eventuality… We need to work hard because this is the only process by which we can ensure that the right, just outcome will result,” she added.

Last Wednesday, the justices held a special session and tackled the petition questioning the Senate Electoral Tribunal (SET) ruling upholding the eligibility of Sen. Grace Poe in the 2013 senatorial elections.

The SC issued an order requiring the nine-member tribunal to comment on the petition filed by Rizalito David questioning the SET ruling that dismissed his disqualification petition against Poe.

Another case involving Poe is expected to reach the high tribunal after the two Comelec divisions recently ruled to disqualify her in the presidential poll over failure to meet the 10-year residency requirement under the Constitution.