Dominguez to courts: Resolve trade feuds

Some case proceedings may have been deliberately delayed

The Supreme Court (SC) was asked by the Department of Finance (DoF) to compel trial courts to speed up resolution of cases involving rehabilitation, insolvency, and liquidation as snail-paced judicial actions remain a hindrance to development.

DoF cried foul over the “questionable” and “deliberate” delay in the resolution of commercial cases pending in various courts.

Court Administrator Jose Midas Marquez disclosed Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III wrote his office urging trial courts to comply with their mandate to resolve cases within a required period considering the delay in resolution of various commercial cases.

Deliberate delays hinted

In his letter, Dominguez cited the case of Land Bank of the Philippines “a creditor party in numerous rehabilitation and insolvency proceedings where there appears to be a questionable trend of unwarranted delay and/ or circumvention of court proceedings.”

He also said that “some case proceedings may have been deliberately delayed” and “have remained pending for more than one year without any approved rehabilitation plans.”

Under Section 72 of Republic Act (RA) 10142, the law on the Rehabilitation or Liquidation of Financially Distressed Enterprises and Individuals, gave commercial court judges one year to act on cases brought before them.

Limit postponements

In response, Marquez issued OCA Circular 105-2021 which “strongly” reminded judges of the Special Commercial Courts (SCC) and those handling business cases to adhere to Section 72 of RA 10142.

The Court Administrator also enjoined all commercial court magistrates to “remain in full control of the proceedings in their sala and should adopt a firm policy against improvident postponements.”

He warned that failure to comply with the one-year limit for deciding cases constitutes gross inefficiency and warrants the imposition of administrative sanctions against erring judges.

There are a total of 147 Regional Trial Courts (RTC) in the country that have been designated by the SC as SCC.

The SCC was spread in 12 judicial regions in the country to handle exclusively cases like rehabilitation, insolvency and liquidation filed by firms and individuals.

It was in 2000 when the SCC were formed through the passage of RA 8799 or the Securities Regulations Code that transferred to the courts the jurisdiction of cases which were erstwhile under the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The courts oversee commercial cases like intra-corporate disputes, issuance of search and seizure in civil actions, admiralty and maritime laws, dissolution of partnerships, financial rehabilitation, and liquidation, among others.

Later, cases involving intellectual property violations were added to SCC’s jurisdiction.

The SC in late 2016, further designated the SCC as cybercrime courts for cases involving the Cybercrime Prevention Act under RA 10175.