THE BUSINESS community on Monday asked the Supreme Court (SC) to speed up cases by requiring courts to comply with deadlines in resolving these, which they said would help boost the economy.
In an e-mailed statement signed by 22 business organizations under the Financial Executives Institute of the Philippines (Finex), they said court rulings “guide businesses in their future commercial relations and transactions and profoundly affect how businesses move forward.”
The speedy resolution of legal disputes would prove that companies could rely on the Philippine judiciary to uphold the law, regulations and contracts upon which businesses are built.
They also cited a 2020 World Bank study showing that the Philippines had the second-longest period to resolve cases among 10 member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
The business groups urged the tribunal to strictly require all courts to adhere to the 1987 Constitution, which says court cases must be resolved within a year, unless shortened by the high court to a year for lower collegiate courts and to three months for other lower courts.
“In these uncertain times brought about by the ongoing pandemic, it is crucial that we strengthen our economy’s backbone by ensuring continuity and certainty in our commercial affairs,” they said. — Bianca Angelica D. Añago
