WHEREAS, there are at present 1,444 municipal courts
exclusive of city courts in the inferior courts level all over the
country;
WHEREAS, a number of these municipal courts did not receive
a single case for investigation or trial during Fiscal Year 1971-1972
and a still much bigger number received not more than 60 cases during
the said period;
WHEREAS, these municipal courts may be constituted into
municipal circuit courts each comprising two or more municipalities
without detriment to the administration of justice;
WHEREAS, the constitution of municipal circuit courts will
mean substantial savings in public funds which can be profitably
utilized for carrying out vital projects of the national government.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, FERDINAND E. MARCOS, President of the
Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me by the Constitution,
do hereby decree and order that municipal circuit courts be constituted
and organized out the present municipal court of the land under and in
accordance with the following conditions and criteria:
The capital of a province shall not be grouped with any other
municipality except in the third, fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh class
provinces.
The municipalities to be constituted under a municipal circuit
court shall, as much as possible, be contiguous to each other.
The circuit judge shall have his official station in a
municipality within the circuit which shall be as centrally located and
easily accessible as possible from the other municipalities comprising
the circuit.
The jurisdiction of municipal circuit courts of which the
capital of a province or sub-province is a part shall be the same as
that of the municipal courts of provincial capitals, while the
jurisdiction of other municipal circuit courts shall be the same as that
of ordinary municipal courts under existing law.
All cases arising within the circuit shall be tried at the
official station of the circuit judge; Provided, however, That
whenever the number of cases or the interest of the administration of
justice requires it, the Supreme Court may authorize the circuit judge
to hold session outside his official station but within the circuit.
The municipal circuit courts shall be courts of record. All
proceedings therein, shall be recorded, and appeals from their
judgments shall be taken and prosecuted in accordance with the procedure
prescribe under existing law and rules.
The Supreme Court shall carry out the provisions of this
decree through implementing orders, on a province-to-province basis.
TRANSITORY PROVISIONS
Pending the issuance by the Supreme Court of the implementing
orders herein above authorize, the municipal courts shall continue to
function as presently constituted and organized.
The most senior in point of service in the judiciary among the
municipal judges of the municipalities constituted into a circuit court
shall be retained as municipal circuit judge, unless the Supreme Court,
in the interest of a better administration of justice, deems it
necessary to consider other factors. The judge who is retained shall,
with the approval of the Supreme Court, appoint a clerk of court, two
stenographers, a clerk-interpreter, and such other personnel as may be
provided of the municipal courts comprising the circuit.
For this purpose, the Chief Justice is hereby authorized, within the
limits of appropriations authorized for the Municipal Courts, to create
additional positions, to change the designations of existing positions,
to make changes in the assignment of personnel, and to effect such
reorganization as maybe necessary.
Upon the issuance of the implementing orders by the Supreme
Court, the municipal circuit courts constituted thereunder shall
commence to exist. The municipal courts organized into the circuit shall
be deemed automatically abolished, and the incumbent municipal judges
not designated to continue as circuit judge shall cease to hold office.
Municipal judges and subordinate employees who shall be
separated from office by reason of this decree shall be entitled, in
addition to the money value of their accumulated leave credits, a
gratuity equivalent to one month salary for every year of service
rendered but not exceeding twelve months on the basis of the highest
salary received, chargeable against savings in appropriations
for the courts; Provided, if said judges and employees are
entitled to gratuity or pension under any retirement law, they shall
select either the gratuity or pension under said retirement law or the
gratuity provided for in this decree.
All cases pending in the municipal courts constituted and
organized into a circuit shall be transferred to the proper municipal
circuit court and shall be tried and decided therein.
This decree shall not apply to city courts in chartered
cities. If a chartered city is reverted to a municipality, such
municipality shall be grouped with other municipalities constituted
under a municipal circuit court.
This Decree shall take effect immediately.
Done in the City of Manila, this 12th day of August, in the
year of Our Lord, nineteen hundred and seventy-four.
(Sgd.)
FERDINAND E. MARCOS
President of the Philippines
By the President:
(Sgd.)
ALEJANDRO MELCHOR
Executive Secretary