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                                 EXHIBIT 99(iii)

                               COMM BANCORP, INC.

                                 CERTIFICATIONS

I, William F. Farber, Sr., President and Chief Executive Officer, certify that:

         1. I have reviewed this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q of Comm Bancorp,
Inc.;

         2. Based on my knowledge, this Quarterly Report does not contain any
untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary
to make the statements made, in light of the circumstances under which such
statements were made, not misleading with respect to the period covered by this
Quarterly Report;

         3. Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial
information included in this Quarterly Report, fairly present in all material
respects the financial condition, results of operations and cash flows of the
registrant as of, and for, the periods presented in this Quarterly Report;

         4. The registrant's other certifying officer and I are responsible for
establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in
`34 Act Rules 13a-14 and 15d-14) for the registrant and have;

              (a) designed such disclosure controls and procedures to ensure
that material information relating to the registrant, including its consolidated
subsidiaries, is made known to us by others within those entities, particularly
during the period in which this Quarterly Report is being prepared;

              (b) evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant's disclosure
controls and procedures as of a date 90 days prior to the filing of this
Quarterly Report (the "Evaluation Date"); and

              (c) presented in this Quarterly Report our conclusions about the
effectiveness of the disclosure controls and procedures based on our evaluation
as of the Evaluation Date;

         5. The registrant's other certifying officer and I have disclosed,
based on our most recent evaluation, to the registrant's auditors and the audit
committee of registrant's board of directors (or persons performing the
equivalent functions):

                  (a) all significant deficiencies in the design or operation of
internal controls which could adversely affect the registrant's ability to
record, process, summarize and report financial data and have identified for the
registrant's auditors any material weaknesses in internal controls; and

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                  (b) any fraud, whether or not material, that involves
management or other employees who have a significant role in the registrant's
internal controls; and

         6. The registrant's other certifying officer and I have indicated in
this Quarterly Report whether there were significant changes in internal
controls or in other factors that could significantly affect internal controls
subsequent to the date of our most recent evaluation, including any corrective
actions with regard to significant deficiencies and material weaknesses.

Date: November 11, 2002                              /s/ William F. Farber, Sr.
                                                     ---------------------------
                                                     William F. Farber, Sr.
                                                     President and
                                                     Chief Executive Officer