Seventeen more Metropolitan Trial Court in Cities (MTCC) in 12 regions outside of the National Capital Region (NCR) have been designated as special night courts to handle urgent cases like petitions for bail arising from nighttime arrests and cases against tourists.

The Supreme Court (SC) said that the night court judges should be physically present from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. preferably on a Friday, and for the rest of the week, they should operate on an on-call basis and must maintain and post a hotline number where they can be reached immediately.

Designated night courts are MTCC, Baguio City; MTCC, Tuguegarao City; MTCC, Angeles City; MTCC Tagaytay City; MTCC, Batangas City; MTCC, Puerto Princesa City; MTCC, Legazpi City; MTCC, Iloilo City; MTCC, Bacolod City; MTCC, Cebu City, Cebu; MTCC, Tagbilaran City; MTCC, Tacloban City; MTCC, Zamboanga City; MTCC, Surigao City; MCTC, General Luna-Pilar, General Luna, Surigao del Norte; MTCC, Davao City, Davao del Sur; and MTCC, General Santos City, South Cotabato.

The SC said the assignment of MCTC, San Juan-San Gabriel, San Juan, La Union and MCTC, Malay-Buruanga, Malay, Aklan, as night courts was retained.

However, it revoked the designation of several courts as night courts, namely: Branch 3, MTCC, Angeles City, Pampanga; Branch 2, MTCC, Cavite City, Cavite; Branch 1, MTCC, Lipa City, Batangas; Branch 2, MTCC, Legazpi, Albay; Branch 7, MTCC, Iloilo City; Branch 5, MTCC, Bacolod City; MTC, Calape, Bohol; Branch 1, MTCC, Cebu City, Cebu; Branch 3, MTCC, Cagayan de Oro City, Misamis Oriental; and Branch 2, MTCC, Surigao City, Surigao del Norte.

The SC authorized the Office of the Court Administrator (OCA) to implement the guidelines in the operation of the night courts. The OCA has issued Circular No. 42-2026 to implement the guidelines.

Among other things, the guidelines provide that in case the designated judge is absent for a night court duty, the judge of his or her paired court should substitute.

And if the paired judge is also absent, the executive judge of the Regional Trial Court (RTC) who has jurisdiction must designate a substitute judge to handle the night court.

Designated night court judges must have cash clerks who will be on call to receive payments for court fees, fines, cash bail deposits, and other related fees.

At the same time, the SC said that judges assigned to night courts must ensure that appropriate security measures are in place. They must coordinate with the local law enforcement agency to maintain a safe working environment during night court operations, it also said.

The branch clerk of court or the officer-in-charge must also inform the Philippine National Police, the city/provincial prosecutor’s office, and other appropriate offices of the night court schedules, it added.

Night court judges in all judicial regions are entitled to an incentive allowance of P1,000 for every night court duty rendered, and assigned personnel are also entitled to the corresponding overtime pay under the applicable rules, the guidelines stated.