Member Articles
Metro Manila under GCQ from June 1; Courts Nationwide Resume Full Operations on June 1
Related Articles inGovernment & Public Sector
Metro Manila, Regions II, III, and IV-A, and the provinces of Pangasinan and Albay (which are currently under [MECQ]) will be placed under General Community Quarantine (GCQ) from June 1. This is based on the announcement made on May 28, 2020 by the President. Many other areas of the country which are now under GCQ will transition to Modified General Community Quarantine starting June 1.[1] GCQ is less restrictive than MECQ, but even during the GCQ period, “all identified high-risk barangays within [Metro Manila] shall be subject to the zoning concept to be implemented by the National Task Force (NTF) on COVID-19,” as provided in Inter Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) Resolution No. 40 dated May 27, 2020.[2]
Some of the establishments and businesses allowed to operate during GCQ and their corresponding operational capacities are set out in the table below. The list is based on the IATF’s Revised Omnibus Guidelines on the Implementation of Community Quarantine in the Philippines (IATF Revised Omnibus Guidelines) (https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/downloads/2020/05may/20200522-omnibus-guidelines-on-the-implementation-of-community-quarantine-in-the-philippines.pdf) and Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Memorandum Circular No. 20-22 (Business Establishments or Activities Allowed to Operate in Areas Declared under Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) and General Community Quarantine (GCQ) Pursuant to the Omnibus Guidelines on Community Quarantine as Confirmed and Adopted by the President Under Executive Order No. 112 S. 2020) (https://dtiwebfiles.s3-ap-southeast-1.amazonaws.com/COVID19Resources/COVID-19+Advisories/050520_MC2022.pdf).
The Supreme Court has issued Administrative Circular No. 41-2020 (Court Operations Beginning 1 June 2020) dated May 29, 2020[5] which provides that all courts and offices of the courts nationwide will resume full operations starting June 1, 2020. However, courts and offices of courts may continue to implement a skeleton workforce due to the limited operation of mass transportation.
The circular states that “[t]here shall no longer be extensions in the filing of petitions, appeals, complaints, motions, pleadings and other court submissions that will fall due beginning 1 June 2020. In the same manner, the periods for court actions with prescribed periods beginning 1 June 2020 shall no longer be extended.” Inquiries regarding cases and transactions and requests for documents and services may be coursed through “hotline numbers, email addresses and/or Facebook accounts of the courts, as posted on the website of the Supreme Court.” Walk-in requests are not allowed.
The following are some of the other key points of the circular:
“The hearings of cases, regardless of the stage of the trial, shall all be in-court, except in cases involving Persons Deprived of Liberty (PDLs) who shall continue to appear remotely from the detention facility, and in cases with extraordinary circumstances as may be determined by the justices and judges, which shall be heard through videoconferencing.”[7]
The BIR has issued Revenue Memorandum Circular No. 54-2020 to inform taxpayers that the PayMaya mobile application (PayMaya) is an “additional channel [for] payment of internal revenue taxes.”
Taxpayers who wish to pay internal revenue taxes through PayMaya “are required to file their corresponding tax returns using the electronic filing facilities of eBIRForms System and/or Electronic Filing and Payment System (eFPS).”
The Secretary of Finance has issued RR No. 14-2020 to amend the rules on cash conversion of Tax Credit Certificates (TCC). TCCs that “remain unutilized for more than one year at any given interval of time during its validity” shall be “converted into cash with prior notice by the BIR, subject to the availability of funds and the procedural requirements that will be issued by the [BIR].”
RR No. 14-2020 also provides that “all TCCs which are already expired upon the effectivity of [the RR] shall be automatically cancelled by the BIR,” except TCCs with the BIR “[for] utilization through [tax debit memo], conversion or revalidation, before the expiration of their respective dates of validity.” The list “of expired TCCs and the names of its taxpayers-owners” will be posted on the BIR’s website “within 30 days from the date of effectivity of the [RR].”
This RR will take effect “15 days immediately following the date of [its] publication in any newspaper of general circulation.” It was published on May 29, 2020 at the Manila Bulletin.
For more information about tax issuances, please contact your account partner or the author of this client bulletin: Carina C. Laforteza Partner; Head of the Tax Department [email protected]
Other COVID-19 related bulletins The links to our earlier bulletins can be found here.
Please note that there are other COVID-19 related government issuances which are not covered by our bulletins. For more information about other regulations, please contact your account partner or [email protected] or [email protected].
|
Footnotes:
[1] Duterte approves placing Metro Manila under GCQ starting June 1 dated May 28, 2020; https://news.mb.com.ph/2020/05/28/duterte-approves-placing-metro-manila-under-gcq-starting-june-1/; last visited at 12:09 PM on May 29, 2020. Please note that the President’s announcement has not yet been published through official sources at the time of this briefing’s writing. [2] IATF Resolution No. 40 dated May 27, 2020; http://www.covid19.gov.ph/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/IATF-Resolution-No.-40.pdf; last visited at 3:23 PM on May 29, 2020. [3] DILG: No need for quarantine passes in GCQ areas, travel passes still required when crossing borders dated May 29, 2020; https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2020/05/29/2017353/dilg-no-need-quarantine-passes-gcq-areas-travel-passes-still-required-when-crossing-borders; last visited at 12:15 PM on May 29, 2020. [4] Duterte: Metro Manila under GCQ on June 1 dated May 29, 2020; https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2020/05/29/2017338/duterte-metro-manila-under-gcq-june-1; last visited at 12:17 PM on May 29, 2020. [5] SC Administrative Circular No. 41-2020 dated May 29, 2020; http://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/11529/; last visited at 6:55 PM on May 29, 2020. [6] Paragraph 4, SC Administrative Circular No. 41-2020 dated May 29, 2020; http://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/11529/; last visited at 6:55 PM on May 29, 2020. [7] Paragraph 6, SC Administrative Circular No. 41-2020 dated May 29, 2020; http://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/11529/; last visited at 6:55 PM on May 29, 2020. [8] BIR Revenue Memorandum Circular No. 54-2020 dated February 12, 2020 (but stamped “received by the BIR” on May 28, 2020); https://www.bir.gov.ph/images/bir_files/internal_communications_1/Advisory/posted%20during%20quarantine%20march%202020/Revenue%20Memorandum%20Circular%20No.%2054-2020.pdf; last visited at 3:14 PM on May 29, 2020. [9] Revenue Regulations No. 14-2020 dated January 30, 2020 (but stamped “received by the BIR” on May 28, 2020); https://www.bir.gov.ph/images/bir_files/internal_communications_1/Full%20Text%20RR%202020/Revenue%20Regulations%20No.%2014-2020.pdf; last visited at 3:18 PM on May 29, 2020. |
Link to article
Related Articles in
Government & Public Sector
- National Security & Investment Bill
February, 2021 - Bid Protests in New York
February, 2021 - The Amicus Brief: An Efficient And Elegant Public Policy Tool
February, 2021 - China Finally Amends its Patent Law – Part 2: Design
February, 2021