'NCR Plus' courts allowed to operate with less than 30% capacity until April 16

MANILA, Philippines — The Office of the Court Administrator allowed courts in the National Capital Region and four nearby provinces to “drastically” reduced operational capacity until mid-April.

Court Administrator Midas Marquez issued Circular 44-2021 in compliance with an en banc resolution of the Supreme Court to “’drastically reduce the Court personnel’ in all court levels.”

As approved by Chief Justice Diosdado Peralta, the first and second level courts and offices in the Metro Manila, Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna and Rizal shall also maintain a skeleton force from March 24 to April 16.

READ: OCA Circular No. 44-2021
To: All Concerned Judges and Court Personnel
Re: Court Operations in the First and Second Level Courts in the National Capital Judicial Region and in the Provinces of Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, and Rizal from 24 March - 16 April 2021 pic.twitter.com/XhaUVjpgpP

— Philippine Supreme Court Public Information Office (@SCPh_PIO) March 23, 2021

First level courts are Municipal and Metropolitan Trial Courts, while second level are those Regional Trial Courts.

This means they may operate with less than 30% of the personnel reporting in-court, to attend to urgent matters.

Marquez, in an earlier circular, said employees who will be working from home must submit accomplishment reports.

Courts in the NCR Plus bubble may also conduct fully-remote videoconferencing hearings during the period, without a need to secure prior permission from the OCA.

“The said judges may likewise conduct such fully-remote videoconferencing hearings outside their respective judicial regions, but only in the resolution of bail applications of persons deprived of liberty, provided that they are within the [National Capital Judicial Region] or the four provinces,” Marquez added.

President Rodrigo Duterte approved the recommendation of Inter-Agency Task Force to revert Metro Manila and four nearby provinces to general community quarantine status, with new and stricter protocols enforced, to curb the spread of the rapid coronavirus.

Despite fresh directive on stricter protocols, the SC went ahead with its flag ceremony on Monday for the retiring Chief Justice Diosdado Peralta. Oral arguments on the 37 petitions against the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020 however are pushed back to April 6.

Health authorities on Tuesday logged 5,867 new COVID-19 cases, pushing national caseload of infections to 677,653. The country also recorded a new all-time high of active cases of 86,200 on March 23. — Kristine Joy Patag