Payment of Fine as Part of Conditions of Probation and Issuance of Clearance/Certificate of No Pending Case in Drugs Cases Involving Plea Bargaining Agreements

June 2, 2022

OCA CIRCULAR NO. 139-2022

 

Atty. Melvin M. Malang, Clerk of Court VI and Presiding Judge Frazierwin V. Viterbo, Branch 33, Regional Trial Court (RTC), Guimba, Nueva Ecija, and Executive Judge Antonio M. Olivete, RTC, Taguig City, brought to the attention of this Office the matter of issuance of Clearance/Certificate of No Pending Case after the accused in a drugs case has obtained a judgment via plea bargaining that imposes payment of fine, has applied for and has been granted probation, and whether the clerk of court can withhold the issuance of the said clearance/certificate until full payment of the fine.

The Court, in its Resolution dated 10 April 2018 in A.M. No. 18-03-16-SC 1(Adoption of the Plea Bargaining Framework in Drugs Cases), ordered, in part, thus: "Remarks: 'x x x However, if accused applies for probation in offenses punishable under R.A. No. 9165, other than for illegal drug trafficking or pushing under Section 5 in relation to Sec. 24 thereof, then the law on probation shall apply.'"

P.D. 968 or the "Probation Law of 1976," as amended by R.A. No. 10707, states that the court, in the probation order, shall require the probationer to "satisfy any other condition related to the rehabilitation of the defendant and not unduly restrictive of his liberty or incompatible with his freedom of conscience." 2 (emphasis supplied)

In this regard, one of the conditions of probation that the court can order is the full satisfaction of the fine imposed, which shall include amounts not exceeding Ten Thousand Pesos (P10,000). This condition will also ensure the collection of fines as part of the duties of the clerk of court, while respecting the probationer's constitutional right to due process.

However, consistent with the ruling in People of the Philippines vs. Salvador Alapan, 3 if the judgment of conviction that metes out fine as a penalty does not expressly provide for subsidiary imprisonment in case of insolvency, then the issuance of Clearance/Certificate of No Pending Case cannot be withheld, unless the convict is in custody for other lawful cause.

For guidance and compliance.

(SGD.) RAUL B. VILLANUEVACourt Administrator

Footnotes

1. Circularized: OCA Circular No. 90-2018 dated 4 May 2018.

2. Section 10. Conditions of Probation. (k)

3. G.R. No. 199527, 10 January 2018, J. Martires.