WHEREAS, Administrative Order (AO) No. 23 (s. 1992) was issued to prescribe rules and procedures on the investigation of administrative disciplinary cases against elective local officials of provinces, highly urbanized cities, independent component cities, component cities, and cities and municipalities in Metro Manila;

WHEREAS, AO No. 22 (s. 2011) was promulgated to govern appeals and petitions for review filed with the Office of the President;

WHEREAS, through Proclamation No. 929 (s. 2020), the President declared a State of Calamity throughout the Philippines for a period of six (6) months and imposed an Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) throughout Luzon due to COVID-19 starting 17 March 2020 until 12 April 2020, unless earlier lifted or extended as circumstances may warrant;

WHEREAS. Republic Act (RA) No. 11469 was enacted to authorize the President to exercise powers necessary and proper to mitigate, if not contain, the transmission of COVID-19;

WHEREAS, Section 4(z) of RA No. 11469 empowers the President to move statutory deadlines and timelines for the filing and submission of any document, the payment of taxes, fees, and other charges required by law, and the grant of any benefit as a temporary emergency measure to respond to the crisis brought by the pandemic in order to ease the burden on individuals under Community Quarantine; and

WHEREAS, since the implementation of the ECQ, the mobility of people over Luzon and even in certain jurisdictions in Visayas and Mindanao has been heavily restricted, and lawyers, law firms, and postal services have no.t been included in the list of exempted individuals, entities, and services from the ECQ;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, RODRIGO ROA DUTERTE, President of the Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me by law, do hereby promulgate the following guidelines to govern the administrative disciplinary cases, appeals to or petitions for review filed with the Office of the President for the duration of the ECQ, as follows:

SECTION 1. Coverage. These guidelines shall be applicable to all appeals, petitions for review, and administrative disciplinary cases filed against: (a) governors, and members of the sangguniang panlalawigan; (b) mayors, vice mayors, and members of the sangguniang panlungsod of highly urbanized cities, independent component cities, and component cities; (c) mayors, vice mayors, and members of the sangguniang panlungsod or bayan, of cities or municipalities in Metro Manila; and (d) all presidential appointees, and other matters mandated by law, rules and regulations to be filed with the Office of the President.

SECTION 2. Interruption of the Period to File Pleadings and Render Judgments. The reglementary periods for the commencement of appeals, petitions for review, and administrative disciplinary cases, filing of pleadings, appearances, motions, notices, and all other papers shall be deemed interrupted during the entire duration of the ECQ until the lifting thereof by the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) or the Office of the President.

It  is likewise understood that the regfementary periods for the rendition of judgments, resolutions, and orders shall also be deemed interrupted during said period.

SECTION 3. Suspension of Proceedings. The proceedings scheduled to take place during the covered period under the ECQ shall be deemed cancelled and shall be rescheduled upon the lifting of the ECQ by the IATF or the Office of the President.

SECTION 4. Exceptions. The foregoing provisions shall not be applicable to urgent cases which are necessary to enable the government to act expeditiously on matters affecting the current public health emergency.

The guidelines set forth herein shall also be without prejudice to any relevant future directive of the IATF or the Office of the President.

SECTION 5. Retroactive Application. The suspension of the periods shall be effective beginning 17 March 2020.

SECTION 6. Separability. If any provision of this Order is declared invalid or. unconstitutional, the other provisions not affected thereby shall remain valid and subsisting.

SECTION 7. Repeal. All issuances, orders, rules and regulations or parts thereof which are inconsistent with the provisions of this Order are hereby modified accordingly for the entire duration of the ECQ.

SECTION 8. Effectivity. This Order shall take effect immediately following its publication in the Official Gazette or in a newspaper of general circulation.

DONE in the City of Manila this 7th day of April in the Year of Our Lord, Two Thousand and Twenty.

(SGD.) RODRIGO ROA DUTERTE

By the President:

(SGD.) SALVADOR C. MEDIALDEA
Executive Secretary