Exemption of the COMELEC from the Payment of the Required Legal Fees in Petitions for Exclusion

May 20, 2003

OCA CIRCULAR NO. 54-03

TO : All Judges and Clerks of Courts of the First Level Courts

SUBJECT:Exemption of the COMELEC from the Payment of the Required Legal Fees in Petitions for Exclusion

For your information and guidance, quoted hereunder is the resolution of the Court En Banc dated May 5, 2003 issued in A.M. No. 03-04-11-SC.

"A.M. No. 03-04-11-SC. Re: Letter of Chairman Benjamin S. Abalos, COMELEC, dated 15 April 2003. — The Court Resolved, upon recommendation of the Office of the Court Administrator, to EXEMPT the COMELEC from the payment of the required legal fees under Rule 141 of the Rules of Court, subject to the following conditions: ACcTDS

(a) that petitions for exclusion are filed by the election officers in the name of or for and on behalf of COMELEC;

(b) that petitions for exclusion are filed pursuant to the pertinent provisions of Republic Act No. 8189, also known as "the Voter's Registration Act of 1996, " or "The Omnibus Election Code, " or Section 2, Article IX (C) of the 1987 Philippine Constitution; and

(c) that election officers are PROHIBITED from allowing themselves to be used by any candidate or political party in the filing of exclusion cases to avoid the payment of fees or to harass duly registered voters. "

For compliance.

(SGD.) PRESBITERO J. VELASCO, JR.Court Administrator