Supreme Court joins Twitter to widen access to its decisions

The Philippines’ Supreme Court has created its Twitter account, @KorteSuprema, a move to "broaden the public’s access to information about the highest court in the land," a spokesperson said. “It aims to bring the court closer to the people and give them real-time updates, news, programs and projects of the Supreme Court," Court spokesman and administrator Jose Midas Marquez said on Tuesday. Considered as a microblogging site, Twitter allows users to post "tweets" or alphanumeric entries that are only 140 characters long. Followers of users such as @KorteSuprema can reply and send private, direct messages to the Supreme Court’s Twitter account. Midas also said that the Court also created its Facebook account, a social networking website. The SC may be accessed on Facebook in the search engine as Supreme Court of the Philippines. The Court’s online efforts were means to distribute information about newsworthy events, including its decisions. “We would like to invite everyone to follow the Supreme Court in its Twitter account as well as join our Facebook page," Marquez said. On Monday, the Court upheld the validity of the agreement that allowed Fontana Development Corp. to operate casino inside the Clark Special Economic Zone. The decision was announced on its Twitter account, which was also posted as its status update on Facebook. On Tuesday, the Court also posted a tweet regarding its decision to uphold the election of Palawan Govenor Abraham Khalil Mitra. - RJAB Jr., GMANews.TV