Secretary Jeremiah Belgica, Director General of the Anti-Red Tape Authority (ARTA), said he is “very happy” with the Supreme Court (SC) Office of the Court Administrator’s move to remind commercial courts to observe deadlines for resolving cases.
On Tuesday (July 27), Court Administrator Jose Midas Marquez issued a letter to 147 special commercial courts, “strongly” reminding them to stick to the limit set in resolving cases.
This, after Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez wrote to Marquez to point out the delays in the resolution of various commercial cases filed in courts, such as rehabilitation, insolvency, and liquidation cases, among others.
Marquez said failure to decide cases and other matters within the prescribed period constitutes gross inefficiency and may lead to the filing of administrative sanctions against the offender.
“We are very happy to know that Courts and Constitutional bodies, that are not within the jurisdiction of ARTA, are now also implementing streamlining efforts to improve their services to the people,” Belgica said.
“Public service demands speed, quick response and resolutions. We join the SC Office of the Court Administrator in nudging the magistrates of the 147 special courts to speedily resolve the cases that they are handling,” he added.
The ARTA chief said they have received numerous concerns about delays in the processes of the Courts and Constitutional bodies. Even simple transactions, such as signing of certificates, get delayed because no one is available to carry them out.
“Our hands are tied because they are not within the ambit of ARTA. We can only refer the concerns to the Constitutional bodies. But even if we do not have power over them, we can put the spotlight on them to see if they are complying with deadlines or not,” he said.
Belgica also said that the SC Court Administrator’s move may lead to the further improvement of the Philippines’ ranking in the World Bank’s Doing Business report.
Resolving Insolvency is one of the 10 key indicators in the said report. It measures the time, cost and outcome of insolvency proceedings involving domestic entities as well as the strength of the legal framework applicable to judicial liquidation and reorganization proceedings.
Enforcing Contracts, another indicator, measures the time and cost for resolving a commercial dispute through a local first-instance court and the quality of judicial processes index, or the series of good practices that promote quality and efficiency in the court system.
Since both of these indicators require Court intervention, strictly observing the deadlines set by the Rules would effectively reduce the time standards and would result in a speedier and more efficient process.
The Anti-Red Tape Secretary also reminded Courts and Constitutional bodies that government offices are mandated to remain fully operational even with alternative work arrangements such as work-from-home.
This is in accordance with the Inter-Agency Task Force of Emerging Infectious Diseases’ Omnibus Guidelines on the Implementation of Community Quarantine in the Philippines.
Belgica said this as the Authority is receiving multiple complaints against government workers allegedly using the alternative working arrangements as an excuse to be inefficient in their work.
“Work-from-home and other alternative work arrangements were never intended to make less efficient government offices,” he said. “Nariyan ‘yan kasi may pandemya, pero hindi ibig sabihin niyan na hindi na kayo magtatrabaho nang maayos.”
Marquez echoed Belgica’s sentiments, saying that he and Chief Justice Alexander G. Gesmundo even go to their office every day to work, even amid the pandemic.
“Mga judges nga allowed to preside from anywhere within the country. The least they can do is conduct regular hearings and try to be efficient,” he said. (ARTA)-rir
