Philippine supreme court joins twitter

The Philippine Supreme Court is joining social networking sites Facebook and Twitter so that it can swiftly announce its decisions and answer any criticism, a spokesman said on Tuesday.

The popular networking sites will make it easier for people to follow the actions of what is widely been seen as the least accessible of all the branches of government, said Midas Marquez, spokesman of the country's highest court.

"It aims to bring the court closer to the people and give them real-time updates, news, programmes and projects of the Supreme Court," he told reporters.

The court may be accessed on Facebook by searching for "Supreme Court of the Philippines" on the website. The court's Facebook profile also has a link to its Twitter account through www.twitter.com/KorteSuprema , Marquez said.

Since Monday, the court has already tweeted, and placed on Facebook, two major decisions: one covering a company's authority to run a casino and another upholding the election of a provincial governor, he added.