IRR of Sec. 40, R.A. No. 6975 Re: Creation of Legal Assistance Office and Regional Legal Assistance Units

September 26, 2008

NAPOLCOM MEMORANDUM CIRCULAR NO. 014-08

IMPLEMENTING RULES AND REGULATIONS ON SECTION 49 OF R.A. NO. 6975, AS AMENDED, AS PRESCRIBED BY THE JOINT MEMORANDUM CIRCULAR DATED FEBRUARY 02, 2000 OF THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, NATIONAL POLICE COMMISSION, AND PHILIPPINE NATIONAL POLICE

WHEREAS, Section 49 of R.A. No. 6975, as amended by Section 56 of R.A. No. 8551 provides:

Legal Assistance — The Secretary of Justice, the Chairman of the Commission or the Chief of the PNP may authorize lawyers of their respective agencies to provide legal assistance to any member of the PNP who is facing before the prosecutor's office, the court or any competent body, a charge or charges arising from any incident which is related to the performance of his official duty: Provided, that government lawyers so authorized shall have the power to administer oaths: Provided, further, That in such cases, when necessary, as determined by the Commission, a private counsel may be provided at the expense of the Government. The Secretary of justice, the Chairman of the Commission and the Chief of the PNP shall jointly promulgate rules and regulations to implement the provisions of this section. AScTaD

WHEREAS, pursuant to the statutory mandate, the Department of Justice (DOJ), National Police Commission (NAPOLCOM), and Philippine National Police (PNP) promulgated a Joint Memorandum Circular dated February 2, 2000 "Prescribing the Rules and Regulations Implementing Section 49 of R.A. No. 6975, as Amended";

WHEREAS, on September 19, 2006, the NAPOLCOM issued Resolution No. 2006-347 creating the Legal Assistance Office under the Office of the Chairman;

WHEREAS, said Legal Assistance Office is created to effectively provide legal assistance to PNP members who are charged with service connected criminal, administrative or civil cases;

NOW, THEREFORE, the Commission, pursuant to and in accordance with, the above statutory mandate hereby promulgates the following Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR):

I. LEGAL ASSISTANCE OFFICE (LAO) AND REGIONAL LEGAL ASSISTANCE UNITS (RLAU) AND THEIR FUNCTIONS

There is hereby created a Legal Assistance Office (LAO) and Regional Legal Assistance Units (RLAUs) which shall perform the following functions: CDHacE

a. Provide legal assistance to qualified members of the PNP who are criminally, administratively or civilly charged of service connected cases before the regular courts, prosecution's office, Office of the Ombudsman, or any of the administrative/disciplinary authorities or other investigative bodies;

b. Design and maintain a central database of all service connected charges against members of the PNP with the abovementioned courts, offices or administrative/disciplinary authorities or other investigative bodies for monitoring and policy formulation purposes;

c. Coordinate with various government offices and agencies in monitoring status of cases filed thereto;

d. Recommend to the Office of the Vice-Chairman and Executive Officer of the Commission or the concerned Regional Director the contracting or hiring of lawyers who shall provide legal services to PNP personnel charged with service connected cases;

e. Initiate continuing legal education and training for its pool of lawyers towards enhancing their competencies in litigation, legal research skills and case management; and,

f. Perform other functions that may be required or assigned by the Commission. IcDCaS

II. ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE

a. The Legal Assistance Office (LAO for brevity) shall function under the Office of the Chairman, NAPOLCOM to be headed by a lawyer of the Commission who is holding a position with Salary Grade 26 or higher to be designated by the Chairman upon recommendation of the Vice-Chairperson and Executive Officer.

b. The LAO shall be initially composed of lawyers from the NAPOLCOM shall be assisted by legal researchers and an administrative staff. The NAPOLCOM lawyers may be reinforced by lawyers from the PNP and the DOJ pursuant to the Joint Memo Circular dated February 2, 2000.

c. There shall be a Regional Legal Assistance Unit (RLAU) in every NAPOLCOM Regional Office. The RLAU shall have the same composition as that of the LAO.

d. To qualify for designation as member of the LAO or RLAU, the lawyers of NAPOLCOM must have at least two (2) years of trial experience before judicial and quasi-judicial bodies.

e. In cases where the LAO or RLAUs are unable to provide legal assistance to the PNP Members concerned due to lack of lawyers, the services of private counsels may be hired, at the expense of NAPOLCOM and subject to the existing COA rules and regulations. TSDHCc

III. GRANT OF LEGAL ASSISTANCE

a. Definition of Terms — As used herein, unless the context otherwise requires, the following terms shall mean and be understood as:

1. Legal Assistance — the legal service, consultation, advice or representation to be rendered in favor of a PNP member in all stages of a criminal, civil or administrative investigation/proceeding either by the lawyers of the NAPOLCOM or by private counsels engaged by NAPOLCOM.

2. PNP Member — active uniformed police personnel of the Philippine National Police. However, a PNP member who has been granted legal assistance shall continue to enjoy the same even after his or her retirement from the service.

3. Service-connected charge — any charge a member of the PNP is facing before the prosecutor's office, Office of the Ombudsman, court or any pertinent administrative/disciplinary authority or investigative body arising from any act or involvement done in the performance of his official duty.

4. Lawyers Authorized to Render Legal Assistance — the duly authorized lawyers of NAPOLCOM or those lawyers officially engaged or contracted by NAPOLCOM to provide legal assistance to the PNP member who is facing a service-connected charge or investigation.

b. Guidelines for the Grant of Legal Assistance — The following shall be the guidelines for the grant of legal assistance. TCcIaA

1. Who are qualified to apply — Any PNP member as defined in paragraph a.(2) hereof who is facing a service connected charge or charges before the prosecutor's office, the court, Office of the Ombudsman, any administrative disciplinary authority or investigative body. PROVIDED that, a PNP member who had been found guilty of an offense with a penalty of more than thirty (30) days suspension within the year the application for legal assistance is filed shall not be entitled thereto.

2. Where to apply — PNP members assigned at the National Offices shall file the application directly before the Central Office of the Commission. PNP members assigned at the Police Regional Offices or regional units of NSUs shall file the application at the NAPOLCOM Regional Office concerned.

3. When to apply — PNP members may apply at any time a criminal, civil or administrative action is instituted before the appropriate Prosecutor's Office, Office of the Ombudsman, Court, or administrative/disciplinary authority or investigative body.

4. Form of Application — The application of a PNP member shall be embodied in the prescribed form, duly accomplished in four (4) copies, and accompanied by the following documents:

i. Certificate of endorsement by the immediate superior of the applicant for the grant of legal assistance;

ii. Copy of the investigation or spot report of the incident which gave rise to the criminal, civil or administrative charge; and

iii. A copy of the complaint, information or charge against the PNP member. CcHDaA

5. Approval of Application. — Applications received at the NAPOLCOM Central Office shall be acted upon by the Head of the LAO within three (3) days from receipt thereof. Applications received at the NAPOLCOM Regional Office shall be acted upon by the Head of the RLAU within three (3) days from receipt of the application.

 The corresponding contract for legal services shall be signed by the Vice-Chairman and Executive Officer and the Regional Director, as the case may be.

 The PNP member applying for legal assistance shall be duly notified of the action on the application through his/her station or unit assignment within two (2) days from such date the application was acted upon.

 The Head of the LAO and the RLAUs shall submit a monthly report on all actions and activities of their respective units to the Office of the Vice-Chairman and Executive Officer.

IV. FUNDING SUPPORT

The initial funding for the NAPOLCOM Legal Assistance Program shall be taken from the Legal Assistance Project Fund allocated for NAPOLCOM under R.A. No. 9498, otherwise known as "General Appropriations Act of Fiscal Year 2008", and such funds made available from other sources.

ADOPTED, this 26th day of September 2008 at Makati City, Philippines. AEaSTC

(SGD.) RONALDO V. PUNO

Chairman

(SGD.) EDUARDO U. ESCUETA

Commissioner

Vice-Chairperson & Executive Officer

(SGD.) CELIA V. SANIDAD-LEONES

Commissioner

(SGD.) LUIS MARIO M. GENERAL

Commissioner

(SGD.) MIGUEL G. CORONEL

Commissioner

AVELINO I. RAZON, JR.

Commissioner

Attested by:

(SGD.) ADELMALYN A. MUNIEZA

Chief, Secretariat