MANILA – The Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) on Friday said it will remain operational throughout the 30-day community quarantine ordered by Malacañang in Metro Manila and urged lawyers to cooperate with authorities' efforts to address the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) threat.
In a statement, IBP national president Domingo Egon Cayosa said IBP employees "and all Filipino lawyers are enjoined to observe best practices and cooperate with authorities and their communities to avoid Covid-19".
The IBP national office remains functional with minimal personnel on a rotation basis to attend to urgent and important matters.
Cayosa also said the IBP National Office is being sanitized and said IBP chapters throughout the country are advised to take similar measures as their local circumstances require.
Key events such as the Governors Meeting scheduled on March 13 and 14 are reset while other meetings are scheduled to take place via the internet, Cayosa said.
On Thursday, Supreme Court (SC) Chief Justice Diosdado Peralta ordered the suspension of court hearings from March 13 to 18 in response to the Covid-19 threat.
Aside from the SC, covered by the suspension are the Court of Appeals (CA), Sandiganbayan, Court of Tax Appeals (CTA), regional trial courts (RTCs), metropolitan trial courts (MeTCs), metropolitan trial courts in cities (MTCCs), the municipal trial courts (MTCs), municipal circuit trial courts (MCTCs), and the Shari’a courts. (PNA)
