In the Matter of the Judiciary Development Fund

April 6, 1999

SUPREME COURT ADMINISTRATIVE CIRCULAR NO. 04-99

IN THE MATTER OF THE JUDICIARY DEVELOPMENT FUND

Section 2 of P.D. No. 1949 (entitled Establishing a Judiciary Development Fund and for Other Purposes), hereafter referred to as the Fund, provides that the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court shall administer and allocate the fund and shall have the sole exclusive power and duty to approve and authorize the disbursements and expenditures of the Fund in accordance with the guidelines set in the Decree and its implementing rules and regulations. ASETHC

On 21 February 1985 then Chief Justice Enrique M. Fernando issued Circular No. 5 providing for the Rules and Regulations Implementing the Decree.

There is a need to revise or supplement the Rules and Regulations.

ACCORDINGLY, the following rules are hereby adopted:

1. In lieu of the Philippine National Bank (PNB) designated in Circular No. 5, the depository bank of the Fund is the Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP). The provisions of the circular referring to the PNB shall apply, perforce, to the LBP.

2. Only one (1) savings account for the Fund shall be maintained, namely, LBP Savings Account No. 0591-0116-34.

The LBP savings account opened by the Office of the Court Administrator, namely, Savings Account No. 0591-0750-12, shall be closed effective 15 April 1999 and deposits thereunder transferred to Savings Account No. 0591-0116-34. The Chief of the Financial Management and Budget Office of the Supreme Court and the Head of the Financial Office of the Office Court Administrator shall take immediate steps to effect the closing and transfer and submit a report thereon not later than 20 April 1999. The Court of Appeals, the Sandiganbayan, the Court of Tax Appeals and all other first and second level courts are hereby notified of the closing of Savings Account No. 0591-0750-12 and directed not to use it for the collections of the Fund after 15 April 1999.

To emphasize, for collection purposes, only LBP Savings Account No. 0591-0116-34 is hereby maintained.

3. For disbursement purposes, only one (1) current account for the Fund, to wit: LBP Current Account No. 0592-1021-53, shall be maintained.

4. Only the Chief justice can authorize the opening of any new account, or the transfer of the Fund or portion of it from the Savings Account to the Current Account.

5. The Chief Accountant of the Supreme Court, in coordination with the Chief of the Financial Management and Budget Office of the Supreme Court and the Head of the Financial Management Office of the Office of the Court Administrator, shall render a monthly report of collections and expenditures of the Fund and submit such report to the Chief Justice within the first ten (10) days of the succeeding month. They shall likewise submit a quarterly report within ten (10) days after every quarter of the year, which may serve as basis for a quarterly distributor of benefits under the Decree.

6. The Collecting and Disbursing Officer of the Supreme Court and the Collecting Officers of the Court of Appeals, Sandiganbayan and the courts of the first and second levels must faithfully comply with their duties prescribed in Circular No. 5.

The Financial Management and Budget Office of the Supreme Court and the Office of the Court Administrator shall see to it that this Circular be faithfully enforced.

This Circular, which shall take effect immediately, supersedes and modifies accordingly any previous orders or circulars on the matter.

Promulgated this 6th day of April 1999.

(SGD.) HILARIO G. DAVIDE, JR.Chief Justice