Amendments/Modifications in OCA Circular No. 139-2010 Dated 07 October 2010, Relative to the En Banc Resolution Dated 14 June 2022 in A.M. No. 99-1-04-SC

October 14, 2022

OCA CIRCULAR NO. 288-2022

 

The Court En Banc, in its Resolution dated 14 June 2022 in A.M. No. 99-1-04-SC 1 (Annex "A"), increased the incentives of judges who are given additional assignments of hearing and deciding cases of others courts. This effectively amended OCA Circular No. 139-2010 dated 07 October 2010 (Re: Additional Guidelines in the Implementation of Resolution No. 99-1-04-SC of the Supreme Court). In the subject resolution, the Court RESOLVED to:

(a) APPROVE the following new rates of Additional Expense Allowance and Judicial Incentive Allowance that are granted to judges given additional assignments of hearing and deciding cases of other branches:

(i) Additional Expense Allowance:

1. Two Thousand Pesos (P2,000.00) per one full day of service rendered in another branch or branches excluding original station, but in no case to exceed Twelve Thousand Pesos (P12,000.00) a month, if assigned to an additional sala, or Sixteen Thousand Pesos (P16,000.00) a month, if assigned to two or more salas;

2. If the designation of the Judge is limited to decision writing, he/she shall be entitled to Two Thousand Pesos (P2,000.00) for every case decided, provided that the disposition of consolidated cases shall be considered as a single decision only; and

(ii) Judicial Incentive Allowance:

1. One Thousand Pesos (P1,000.00) per month, for every additional branch that is assigned to a judge.

In this view, and pursuant to the authority granted by the Court to this Office as stated in the subject resolution, all concerned are DIRECTED to observe the following guidelines in the processing for their claims of Additional Expense and Judicial Incentive Allowances:

1. The Judge with additional assignment/s shall submit a copy each to the Finance Division, Financial Management Office (FD-FMO), Office of the Court Administrator (OCA), and to the Employees' Leave Division, Office of Administrative Services (ELD-OAS), OCA, of his/her Certificate of Service for his/her original court, to be attested by the Clerk of Court/Branch Clerk of Court/Officer-in-Charge, indicating the following:

a. the number of additional court/s assigned to him/her; and

b. that he/she has held trial or conducted proceedings thereat at least thrice a week. Should the number of trials or proceedings conducted is less than thrice a week, the judge shall indicate his/her explanation/s or justification/s therein.

2. Further, the Judge with additional assignment/s shall also submit a copy each to the FD-FMO, OCA, and to ELD-OAS, OCA, of his/her Certificate of Service for his/her additional court/s, that is, for every court/s he/she is designated or assigned to, to be attested by the Clerk of Court/Branch Clerk of Court/Officer-in-Charge, indicating the following:

a. the actual number of cases heard per day, which should be at least five (5) cases. Should the number of cases heard for the given day is less than five (5), the judge shall state his/her explanation/s or justification/s in the said certificate of service; and

b. the reason/s for postponement, cancellation, or resetting of hearing/s. It must be noted that the Judge is only entitled to the payment of additional expense allowance if the postponement, cancellation, or resetting of hearing/s is beyond his/her control.

3. The abovementioned certificates of service must be accompanied by the following documents (in hard copy/ies), which must be personally submitted (via dropbox) or mailed (through courier or the postal services) within the first ten (10) days of the succeeding month to the Supreme Court, addressed to the respective Chiefs of the FD-FMO, OCA and ELD-OAS, OCA, otherwise the claim for reimbursement of allowance with the FMO, OCA, shall not be processed:

a. duly accomplished disbursement voucher;

b. duly filled-out Obligation Request and Status form;

c. copy/ies of the Administrative/Office Order designating the judge-claimant as Acting Presiding Judge or Assisting Judge, or copy/ies of the certification from the clerk of court/branch clerk of court/officer-in-charge of the paired court stating that the judge-claimant is the paired judge.

4. The subject certificates of service shall be verified by the judge-claimant and the clerk of court/branch clerk of court/officer-in-charge, and shall be subscribed and sworn to before any judge within the territorial jurisdiction of the judge-claimant;

5. For the Judge to be entitled to the full payment of his/her Additional Expense Allowance, he/she must render one (1) full day of service in the branch/court where he/she is designated/assigned. Should the Judge render only half (1/2) day of service in the branch/court where he/she is designated/assigned, he/she shall be entitled to only half of the corresponding additional expense allowance. One (1) full day of service means the Judge must have exclusively devoted his/her entire working hours of the day at his/her additional court/s. 2 On the other hand, a half (1/2) day of service means the Judge must have exclusively devote his/her working hours thereat for at least four (4) hours;

6. Attached herein are the following forms:

a. Certificates of Service to be used by the concerned judges;

b. Disbursement voucher; and

c. Obligation Request and Status form.

Any prior circular from the Office of the Court Administrator on this matter which is contrary to the foregoing is hereby deemed superseded.

For strict compliance.

(SGD.) JENNY LIND R. ALDECOA-DELORINODeputy Court Administrator and Officer-in-Charge

ATTACHMENTS

Certificate of Service

 

Certificate of Service

APPENDIX 32

Disbursement Voucher

 

Obligation Request and Status

ANNEX A

A.M. No. 99-1-04-SC

Footnotes

1. A.M. No. 99-1-04-SC (Re: Granting Incentives to Judges Who are Given Additional Assignments of Hearing and Deciding Cases of Other Branches of Their Courts or of Other Courts of the Same Level).

2. Pursuant to Administrative Circular No. 2-99 dated 15 January 1999.