MANILA, Philippines — The Supreme Court (SC) has warned trial court judges who do not follow existing guidelines in issuing temporary restraining orders (TRO) and clearing accused persons in drug cases to be prudent or face administrative suit. The SC issued the statement in response to President Duterte’s recent warning on issuances of TROs on his administration’s infrastructure projects, as well as the approval of plea bargaining in drug cases. Chief Justice Lucas Bersamin reminded lower court judges of the high court’s existing administrative orders that set guidelines for judges in issuing temporary restraining orders (TROs) on government projects as well as granting plea bargaining agreements in petty drug cases. AC 77-99 was issued in 1999 upon the request of then-president Joseph Estrada, “reminding judges to respect Presidential Decree No. In 2014, Court Administrator Midas Marquez also issued Circular 38-2014 for the judicious implementation of court issuances concerning the ban on the issuance of TROs or writs of preliminary injunction involving government infrastructure projects.

Source: Philippine Star July 21, 2019 16:07 UTC