MANILA – The Supreme Court (SC) has reminded the courts handling important commercial matters to avoid unnecessary delays by adhering to the law’s timetable for the resolution of rehabilitation, insolvency, and liquidation proceedings.
In a circular dated July 27, Court Administrator Jose Midas Marquez reminded the courts of the deadline for resolving the aforementioned cases.
“All judges of the Special Commercial Courts and those handling commercial cases are hereby strongly reminded that pursuant to Section 72 of Republic Act No. 10142, known as Financial Rehabilitation and Insolvency Act of 2010, courts shall have a maximum period of one year from the date of the filing of the petition to confirm a rehabilitation plan,” Marquez said.
Following a letter from Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez urging the Office of the Court Administrator (OCA) to ensure that courts comply with their mandate due to the delay in resolution of various commercial cases filed in courts such as rehabilitation, insolvency, and liquidation cases, the high court issued the reminder.
Dominguez referenced a specific case involving the government-run Land Bank of the Philippines as a creditor party in which there was a “questionable trend of unwarranted delay and circumvention of court proceedings,” implying that some case “proceedings may have been deliberately delayed and have remained pending for more than one year without any approved rehabilitation plans”.
Marquez also encouraged judges to “remain in complete control of the proceedings in their sala and to establish a clear stance against unjustified postponements”.
Failure to decide cases and other matters within the reglementary period, he noted, constitutes gross inefficiency and warrants administrative consequences against the erring magistrate.
