Supreme Court resumes full operations

The Supreme Court (SC) resumed full operations Monday, the first day of general community quarantine (GCQ) in Metro Manila, more than two months after the COVID-19 crisis prompted authorities in the judiciary to order the physical closure of courts nationwide.

A total of 1,698 out of 2,700 SC personnel have undergone rapid testing as of May 29. The testing will continue daily until all employees have been tested, the SC Public Information Office (PIO) said in a statement.

Employees who are part of the skeleton staff returning to work lined up for their turn to use the multifunction disinfection chambers installed in two locations in the court's compound, the SC PIO said.

SC spokesperson Brian Keith Hosaka also said the courts and judges are ready to handle the resumption of court hearings on Monday.

"As emphasized by Chief Justice Peralta, access to justice should not be hampered even in times of crisis. This means that our courts must continue to be open and always ready to act on the cases brought before them," Hosaka said in a message to reporters.

Court Administrator Jose Midas Marquez earlier said hearings through videoconferencing will continue during the GCQ.

Videoconference hearings were initially tested in authorized courts across the country to limit the movement of court users, judges, staff, and detainees and minimize the transmission of the coronavirus.

Initially allowed only for urgent matters involving detainees, hearings through videoconferencing were later expanded to even non-urgent matters in the authorized courts.

More than a thousand courts have been allowed to hold hearings through videoconferencing.

Marquez said 7,000 videoconference hearings were conducted in a month and more than 22,000 detainees were released during the lockdown. 

The SC also allowed courts to receive criminal cases, applications for bail, and other pleadings electronically amid the public health emergency. 

In a new circular Monday, Marquez said all courts should continue to submit daily reports on the release of qualified detainees and weekly reports of the videoconference hearings they conducted.

For areas still under enhanced or modified enhanced community quarantine, courts should continue turning in daily status reports on urgent matters until their areas are downgraded to GCQ or modified GCQ, the court administrator said. — KBK/RSJ, GMA News