REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City

SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS
Third Regular Session

House Bill No. 8346

Introduced by MAGDALO Party-List Representative
“HON. GARY C. ALEJANO

EXPLANATORY NOTE

A government should be under the rule of law and not of men. To maintain peaceful
governance under the rule of law, the state should have an effective justice system, which
includes, among other elements, an impartial tribunal, ready representation for the accused,
and a competent prosecuting arm on behalf of the state and its people.

‘The National Prosecution Service (NPS) is the prosecution arm of the Department of Justice
(DOJ) whose members, the public prosecutors, are the ones who stand before our Courts of
Justice to represent the People and the aggrieved in a criminal case. They are mandated to
uphold the rule of law as a component of the justice system.

The National Prosecution Service was created thru Republic Act No. 10071 which shall
primarily be responsible for the preliminary investigation and prosecution of all cases
involving violations of penal laws. It is independent from the Department of Justice in
order to ensure precise fact-finding investigation and righteousness through fair
execution of laws.

This measure seeks to professionalize and further strengthen the NPS thru the
following:

1) Creating an independent and autonomous National Prosecution Service, with its
own organizational structure separate and distinct from the Department of
Justice;

2) Giving the Prosecutor General leadership, control and supervision over it; and

3) Providing additional benefits and incentives to NPS prosecutors in the form of
forfeitable leave privilege, hazard pay, and survivorship.

With this proposed measure, we hope that we would be able to strengthen public trust
toward the Prosecution Service and, in the process, help advance democracy and rule of
law in the country.

In view of the foregoing, the immediate passage of

Representative
Magdalo Para sa Pilipino Party-List


REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City

SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS
Third Regular Session

_ ~ 8346
House Bill No.

Introduced by MAGDALO Party-List Representative
HON. GARY C. ALEJANO

AN ACT
TO FURTHER STRENGTHEN AND REORGANIZE THE NATIONAL
PROSECUTION SERVICE AMENDING FOR THE PURPOSE REPUBLIC ACT NO.
10071, AND APPROPRIATING FUNDS THEREFOR

Be it enacted by the Senate and the House of Representatives of the Philippines in
Congress assembled:

SEC. 1. Section 2 of Republic Act No. 10071 is hereby amended to read as follows:

Section 2. Scope. — The constituent offices herein covered shall refer to the
offices enumerated under Section 3-A of Republic Act No. 10071, as
amended, that compose the National Prosecution Service as created and
establish in the succeeding sections.

SEC.2. Section 3 of Republic Act No. 10071 is hereby amended to read as follows:

Section 3. Creation and Mandate of the National Prosecution Service. There
is hereby created and established an independent and autonomous National
Prosecution Service (NPS) to be headed by a Prosecutor General and attached
to the Department of Justice. The NPS shall be primarily responsible for the
investigation and prosecution of all cases involving violation of penal laws.

SEC.3. A new Section 3-A is hereby inserted in RA 10071 to read as follows:

Section 3-A. Organizational Structure. The NPS shall be composed of the
following constituent offices or units:

(1) Office of the Prosecutor General, which shall be assisted by the following
offices, namely;

(1.1) Office of the Chief of Staff,

(1.2) Office of the Senior Deputy State Prosecutor for Policy and
Administration

(1.3) Office of the Senior Deputy State Prosecutor for Regional
Operations and Filed Services;

(1.4) Office of the Senior Deputy State Prosecutor for Projects
Managements;


(1.5) Office of the Senior Deputy State Prosecutor for Special Cases
and Appeals’ Petitions for Review; and

(1.6) Office of the Senior Deputy State Prosecutor for Internal
Affairs.

(2) Line Services consisting of the following:

(2.1) Financial Management Service;
(2.2) Huma Resources Management Service;

(2.3) Planning and Statistics Service;

(2.4) Training and Development Service;

(2.5) Research Centre;

(2.6) Case Management Service; and

(2.7) Management Information Service;

(3) Field Offices;

(3.1) Regional Prosecution Office;
(3.2) Provincial Prosecution Office; and
(3.3) City Prosecution Offices.

The following positions/items shall be directly under the Office of the
Prosecutor General:

(a) Five (5) Senior Deputy State Prosecutors who shall each head the
foregoing Offices mentioned above [ paragraphs (1.2) to (1.6)};

(b) Twenty (20) Deputy State Prosecutors;

(c) Thirty five (35) Senior Assistant State prosecutors;

(d) Eighty (80) Assistant State Prosecutors; and

(e) Twenty (20) Associate State Prosecutors.

SEC.4. Section 4 of Republic Act No. 10071 is hereby deleted.

SEC.5. Section 5 of Republic Act No. 10071 is hereby amended to read as follows:

SEC.S. Powers and Functions of the Office of the Prosecutor General. The
Prosecutor General shall have the following powers and functions:

(1) Appoint, upon the recommendation of the Human Resources Management
Service in accordance with a selection and promotion standards and
process that shall be established immediately after the effectivity of this
Act, the officials and personnel of the National Prosecution Service from
the rank of Prosecutor I up to Prosecutor V, but excluding Senior Deputy
State Prosecutors and Regional Prosecutors, who shall be appointed by the
President upon the recommendation of the Prosecutor General;

(2) Act directly on any matter involving crime against national security, act of
terrorism, and in any case where there is probability of miscarriage of
justice, within the jurisdiction of the constituent offices of the National
Prosecution Service;


(3) Create and organize various divisions/task forces within the NPS that will
focus in the investigation and prosecution of crimes involving national
and/or public interest;

(4) Issue policy guidelines and develop plans, programs and projects relative
to the investigation and prosecution of criminal cases;

(5) Act as counsel for the People of the Philippines in any case involving or
arising from a criminal complaint investigated by any of its prosecutors
and pending before any trial court;

(6) Represent the National Prosecution Service, in a concurrent capacity with
the Office of the Solicitor General, before the Court of Appeals and
Supreme Court in all cases elevated to said courts by way of appeal,
certiorari or petition for review involving decisions, issues and incidents
arising from criminal cases prosecuted by the National Prosecution Service
before any trail court;

(7) Investigate or cause to be investigated, administrative complaints against
prosecutors, other prosecution officers and other personnel in the Office of
the Prosecutor General and the various line services;

(8) Prepare legal opinions on queries involving violations of the Revised Penal
Code and special penal laws;

(9) Monitor all criminal cases filed with the National Prosecution Service,
maintain updated records of the status of each case, and adopt such
systems and procedures as will expedite the monitoring and disposition of
cases;

(10) Require the constituent offices to submit their respective annual budget
proposals and to prepare the budget of the National Prosecution Service;

(11) Approve the appointment of personnel in the Office of the Prosecutor
General and in the line services in accordance with the qualification,
skills and competency standards as shall be established by the Human
Resources Management Service of the NPS;

(12) Approve the transfer of prosecution support staff in the Office of the
Prosecutor General and in the line services, and exercise disciplinary
action over them in accordance with the Civil Service Law, and other
existing laws and regulations;

(13) Approve attendance of prosecutors and support staff in the Office of the
Prosecutor General and of Regional Prosecutors in official conferences,
seminars and other training programs;


(14) Approve the following requests of Regional Prosecutors and of
prosecutors and personnel in the Office of the Prosecutor General:
official leave of absence, with or without pay, overtime services; official
and personal travel; permission to exercise profession or to engage in
business outside of office hours; and claims and benefits under existing
laws,

(15) Approve requests of prosecutors and other personnel of the NPS in the
regional prosecution offices for official leave of absence, with or without
pay, for a period exceeding one (1) year, and for official travel outside of
the respective regions; and

(16) Other powers and functions inherent in a head of agency, and that are
relevant and necessary for the fulfillment of the mandate of the NPS.

SEC.6, Section 6 of Republic Act No. 10071 is hereby amended to read as follows:

Section 6. Regional Prosecution Office. There shall be at each
administrative region, including the National Capital Region (NCR), a
Regional Prosecution Office to be headed by a Regional Prosecutor who shall
be assisted by one (1) Deputy Regional Prosecutor who shall be assisted by
one (1) Deputy Regional Prosecutor, one (1) Senior Assistant Regional
Prosecutor, three (3) Assistant Regional Prosecutors, and three (3) Associate
Regional Prosecutors,

SEC.7. Section 7 of Republic Act No. 10071 is hereby amended to read as follows:

Section 7. Powers and Functions of the Regional Prosecutor. The Regional
Prosecutor shall, under the control and supervision of the Office of the
Prosecutor General, have the following powers and functions:

(a) Implement policies, plans, programs, memoranda, orders, circulars and
tules and regulations of the OPG relative to the investigation and
prosecution of criminal cases in his/her region;

(b) Exercise immediate administrative supervision over all provincial and city
prosecutors and other prosecuting officers for provinces and cities
comprised within his/her region.

(c) Prosecute any case arising within the region;

(d) When so delegated by the Office of the Prosecutor General, resolve with
finality appeals from or petitions for review of judgments and orders of
provincial and city prosecutors and their assistants within the region in
cases where the imposable penalty is at least prision mayor, or its
equivalent. This notwithstanding, the Office of the Prosecutor General is
not precluded from exercising his power or review over such resolutions of
the Regional Prosecutor in instances where lies grave abuse of discretion


on the part of the Regional Prosecutor, and from determining the extent of
the coverage of the power of review of the Regional Prosecutors;

(e) Designate a prosecutor from any office of the provincial or city prosecutor

within the region as Acting Provincial or City Prosecutor to investigate
and prosecute a case in instances where parties question the partiality or
bias of a particular city or provincial prosecutor or where the city or
provincial prosecutor voluntarily inhibits himself/herself by reason of
relationship to any of the parties within the sixth (6") civil degree of
consanguinity or affinity;

With respect to his/her regional office and the offices of the provincial and
city prosecutors within his region, he/she shall:

(1) Approve the appointment of support personnel in accordance with
the qualification, skills and competency standards as may be
established by the Huma Resources Management Service of the
NPS;

(2) Approve the transfer of support personnel within the jurisdiction of
the regional office and exercise disciplinary actions over them in
accordance with the Civil Service law, other existing laws and
regulations;

(3) Approve the following requests of prosecutors and personnel
within the region: official leave of absence, with or without pay,
for a period not exceeding one (1) year; overtime services; official
travel within the region; permission to exercise their profession or
to engage in business outside of office hours; and claims and
benefits under existing laws;

(4) Exercise immediate administrative supervision over all provincial
and city prosecutors, their assistants and all other prosecuting
officers of the provinces and cities within his/her region;

(5) Investigate administrative complaints against prosecutors and other
prosecuting officers within the region and submit his/her
recommendation to the Office of the Prosecutor General, which
shall, after review thereof and where warranted, impose the
corresponding administrative sanction/s in accordance with law;

(6) Approve attendance of personnel in conferences, seminars and
other training programs within the region;

(7) Prepare the budget for the region for approval of the Office of the
Prosecutor General and administer the same;

(8) Approve requisition for supplies, materials and equipment, as well
as books, periodicals and the like and other items for the region in
accordance with the approved supply procurement program;

(9) Negotiate and conclude contracts for services or for furnishing
supplies, materials and equipment and the likes within the
budgetary limits set for the region;

(10) Within his/her region, monitor the submission of all reports as

may be required by the Office of the Prosecutor General;


1 (11) Coordinate with the regional offices of other departments, bureaus
2 and agencies of the government and with local governments units
3 in the region; and
4 (12) Perform such other duties and functions as may be provided by
5 law or as may further be delegated by the Office of the Prosecutor
6 General.
7
8 SEC.8. The last paragraph of Section 8 of Republic Act No. 10071 shall be deleted,
9 and the said Section shall now read as follows:
10
pt Section 8. The Provincial Prosecutor or City Prosecutor.- There shall be for each
2 province or city a Provincial or City Prosecutor, as the case may be, who shall be
13 assisted by at least one (1) Deputy Provincial Prosecutor or Deputy City Prosecutor
4 and such number of assistant and associate prosecutors as provided for hereinafter.
15 Provided, however, that whenever a new province or city is created, it shall have a
16 provincial prosecutor or city prosecutor, a deputy provincial prosecutor or deputy city
7 prosecutor and such number of assistant and associate prosecutors as there are court
18 branches therein at the ration of two (2) prosecutors for each branch of regional trial
19 court, one (1) prosecutor for each branch of metropolitan trail court or municipal trial
20 court in cities, and one (1) prosecutor for every two (2) municipal trial courts in
21 municipalities or branches thereof or municipal circuit trial courts.
2
23 Upon the establishment of the new province or city, position items of Prosecutor of
24 the Office of the Provincial Prosecutor for the mother province in excess of the new
25 equivalent pursuant to the ratio established above for the courts or branches thereof
26 ‘that remained to be served by the office shall be transferred automatically to the
27 Office of the provincial Prosecutor of Office of the City Prosecutor for the new
28 province or city, as the case may be: Provided, further, That when all or almost all of
29 the regional trial court branches are seated at the city, the number of prosecutors for
30 the city shall be proportional to the territorial jurisdiction covered by such branches of
31 the courts.
32
33 In case a province is reverted to the mother province or a city is reconverted into a
34 municipality for whatever reason, all the prosecution position items of the Office of
35 the Provincial Prosecutor or Office of the City Prosecutor shall go the Office of the
36 Provincial Prosecutor for the mother province: Provided, however, That the position
37 title provincial prosecutor or city prosecutor for the former province or city shall be
38 changed to Assistant Provincial Prosecutor or Associate Prosecutor, as the case may
39 be, and shall have the corresponding rank provided in Section 15.
40
a SEC. 9. The first paragraph of Section 9 of Republic Act No. 10071 shall be deleted,
42 and the said Section shall now read as follows:
43
44 Section 9. Powers and Functions of the Provincial or City Prosecutor. The
45 Provincial or City Prosecutor shall:
46
47 (a) Investigate and/or cause to be investigated all charges of crimes, misdemeanors
48 and violations of penal laws and ordinances within their respective jurisdictions,
49 and have the necessary information or complaint prepared or made and filed
50 against the persons accused. In the conduct of such investigations he or any of

6


his/her assistants shall receive the statements under oath or take oral evidence of
witnesses, and for this purpose may by subpoena summon witnesses to appear and
testify under oath before him/her, and the attendance or evidence of an absent or
recalcitrant witness may be enforces by application to any trial court; and

(b) Have charge of the prosecution of all crimes, misdemeanors and violations of city
or municipal ordinances in the courts at the province or city and therein discharge
all the duties incident to the institutions of Section 5 hereof.

SEC.10. Section 12 of Republic Act No. 10071 is hereby amended to read as follows:

Section 12. Realignment of the Position Items.- Upon the approval of this
Act, the Office of the Prosecutor General shall transfer vacant excess position
items of prosecutors to the cities within the province or to the province of
which the cities used to be municipalities or to other cities within the province:

Provided, however, That if the position items are occupied, they shall be
transferred as soon as they become vacant or when the incumbent prosecutors
consent to their transfer.

When new cities or provinces are created and court branch seats are realigned
or redistributed, the Office of the Prosecutor General shall correspondingly
create or realign position items of prosecutors to the new cities or provinces
from the province without prejudice to the provision of Section 8 hereof.

After the approval of this Act, branches of the Regional Trial Court that are
seated in the city hitherto try and hear criminal cases filed by either the office
of the provincial prosecutor or office of the city prosecutor shall
proportionally divide themselves into branches where criminal and other cases
filed, and those to be prosecuted and or defended by the Office of the
Provincial Prosecutor shall be exclusively raffled to, tried and heard, and
branches where criminal and other cases filed, and those to be prosecuted or
defended by the Office of the City Prosecutor shall exclusively raffled to, tried
and heard, Upon such division, the Office of the Prosecutor General shall also
realign position items of prosecutor of the Office of the Provincial Prosecutor
and the Office of the City Prosecutor affected.

SEC.11. Section 14 of Republic Act No. 10071 is hereby amended to read as follows:

Section 14. Qualifications, Rank and Appointment of the Prosecutor
General.- The Prosecutor General is a cabinet rank and shall have the same
qualifications for appointment, rank, category, prerogatives, salary grade and
salaries, allowances, emoluments, and other privileges, shall be subject to the
same inhibitions and disqualifications, and shall enjoy the same retirement and
other benefits as those of an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court and shall
be appointed by the President.

SEC.12. Section 16 of Republic Act No. 10071 is hereby amended to read as follows:
Section 16. Qualifications, Ranks, and Appointments of Prosecutors and
Prosecutors, and other Prosecution Officers.- Prosecutors with the rank of
Prosecutor V shall have the same qualifications for appointment, rank,

7


category, prerogatives, salary grade, and salaries, allowances, and emoluments
and other privileges, shall be subject to the same inhibitions and
disqualifications, and shall enjoy the same retirement and other benefits as
those of an associate justice of the Court of Appeals.

Prosecutors with rank of Prosecutor IV shall have the same qualifications for
appointment, rank, category, prerogatives, salary grade and salaries,
allowances, emoluments and other privileges, shall be subject to the same
inhibitions and disqualifications, and shall enjoy the same retirement and other
benefit as those of a Judge of the Regional Trial Court.

Prosecutors with the rank of Prosecutor III shall have the same qualifications
for appointment, rank, category, prerogatives, salary grade and salaries,
allowances, emoluments and other privileges, shall be subject to the same
inhibitions and disqualifications, and shall enjoy the same retirement and other
benefit as those of a Judge of the Metropolitan Trial Court.

Prosecutors with the rank of Prosecutor IT shall have the same qualifications
for appointment, rank, category, prerogatives, salary grade and salaries,
allowances, emoluments and other privileges, shall be subject to the same
inhibitions and disqualifications, and shall enjoy the same retirement and other
benefit as those of a Judge of the Municipal Trial Court in cities.

Prosecutors with the rank of Prosecutor I shall have the same qualifications for
appointment, rank, category, prerogatives, salary grade and salaries,
allowances, emoluments and other privileges, shall be subject to the same
inhibitions and disqualifications, and shall enjoy the same retirement and other
benefit as those of a Judge of the Metropolitan Trial Court in municipalities.

Any increase after the approval of this Act in the salaries, allowances or
retirement benefits or any upgrading of the grades or levels thereof of any or
all of the Justice or Judges referred to herein to whom said emoluments are
assimilated shall apply to the corresponding prosecutors.

All the above prosecutors shall be selected from among qualified and
professionally trained members of the legal profession who are of proven
integrity and competence, as determined by the Human Resource Management
Service of the NPS in accordance with the selection and promotion standards
and process that must be established immediately after the effectivity of this
Act. All prosecutors of the NPS, including the Prosecutor General, shall serve
until they reach the age of sixty five (65) years old: Provided, however, That
the ages of “seventy (70) years” and “sixty-five (65) years” and the years of
service “twenty (20) years” provided in Republic Act No. 910, as amended,
and other retirement laws for judges, shall be understood as “sixty-five (65)
years” and “sixty (60) years,” and fifteen (15) years,” respectively, when
applied to prosecutors.

The ‘qualifications for appointment” mentioned in this Section and in Section
14 of this Act shall be in addition to the requirements of prosecutorial


experience, skills, and competencies that shall be established by the Human
Resources Management Services of the NPS as herein provided.

Subject to Section 20 hereof the salaries, allowances and benefits of all
personnel of the National Prosecution Service shall be paid entirely out of
national funds and included in the annual appropriations of the DOJ. Provided
however, That this provision is without prejudice to the grant of allowances to
the above-mentioned prosecutors by their respective local governments in
amounts not exceeding fifty-percent (50%) of their basic salaries; Provided,
further, That the whole of the allowances or portion thereof, whether granted
by the national or local government shall be exempt from the income tax.

The salaries, allowances and other emoluments herein fixed shall not apply to
officers other those of prosecutors in the National Prosecution Service,
notwithstanding any provision of law assimilating the salaries of other officers
to those herein mentioned.

SEC.13. Section 19 of Republic Act No. 10071 is hereby amended to read as follows:

Section 19. No Undermining of Security of Tenure.- Nothing in this Act shall
be construed to allow the transfer, except as provided herein or in case of
temporary assignment, as public interest may require, of any prosecutor to
another office or station, or to undermine the security of tenure of incumbent
prosecutors as provided in the laws. Such temporary assignment shall not
exceed three (3) months without his or her written consent. No chief of
prosecution office in the National Prosecution Service shall be detailed or
assigned to another office or station, except in a concurrent capacity and with
his or her written consent.

SEC.14, A new Section 21-A shall be inserted in Republic Act No. 10071 to read as

Section 21-a. Forfeitable Leave Privilege. All prosecutors in the National
Prosecution Service shall be entitled annually to thirty (30) days forfeitable
leave with pay in addition to the fifteen (15) days vacation leave and fifteen
(15) days sick leave privileges provided by law. In the computation thereof,
Saturdays, Sunday and holidays shall be excluded.

The forfeitable leave privilege shall be non-cumulative and non-convertible to
cash.

SEC.15. A new Section 21-B shall be inserted in Republic Act No. 10071 to read as

Section 21-B. Hazard Pay.- All prosecutors in the National Prosecution
Service shall, during their incumbency, be entitled to a monthly incentive in
the form of a tax-exempt hazard pay in the amount equivalent to twenty-five
percent (25%) of their basic salary per month.


SEC.16. A new Section 21-C shall be inserted in Republic Act No. 10071 to read as

Section 21-C. Survivorship Benefits.- Upon death of any prosecutor of the
National Prosecution Service, if said prosecutor has retired or was in the
service at the time of death, the surviving legitimate spouse and dependent
children of said prosecutor shall be entitled to receive on a monthly basis all
the retirement benefits that the deceased was receiving or entitled to receive at
the time of death under the provisions of the applicable retirement laws then in
force.

‘A “dependent” means a legitimate, illegitimate or legally adopted child who is
chiefly dependent on the above-enumerated deceased NPS prosecutors, if such
dependent is not more than twenty-one (21) years of age, unmarried and not
gainfully employed, or if such dependent, regardless of age, is incapable of
self-support because of mental or physical defect.

The said surviving legitimate spouse shall continue to receive such retirement
benefits during his/her lifetime or until he/she remarries; Provided, that if the
surviving legitimate spouse is receiving benefits under existing retirement
laws, he/she shall only be entitled to the difference between the amount
provided for in this Act and the benefits he/she is receiving: Provided further,
that said benefits shall be granted all aforementioned prosecutors of the NPS
who died or retired prior to the effectivity of this Act.

Funds for the initial implementation of this Section shall be taken out of the
current appropriations for the retirement of the prosecutors of the NPS and/or
savings of said office. Thereafter, such sums as may be necessary for the
continued implementation of this Section shall be included in the annual
general appropriations act.

SEC.17. Section 26 of Republic Act No. 10071 is hereby amended to read as follows:

Section 26. Appropriation.- There is hereby appropriated initially the sum of
One Hundred Million Pesos (P100,000,000.00) from the funds of the National
Treasury not otherwise appropriated, for the organization and operational
expenses of the National Prosecution Service for a period of one (1) year from
the effectivity of this Act. The said amount shall be added to the annual budget
of the NPS.

SEC.18. A new Section 26-A is hereby inserted in RA 10071 to read as follows:

Section 26-A. Implementing Rules and Regulations. Within sixty (60) days
from the effectivity of this Act, the Office of the Prosecutor General, in
coordination with the Office of the Secretary of Justice and the Office of the
Secretary of Budget and Management, shall promulgate such rules and
regulations as may be necessary to carry out the provision of this Act.

10


worvauswne

SEC.19. Repealing Clause. All acts, laws, decrees, executive orders, letters of
instructions and regulations or any part thereof which are inconsistent with any provision of
this Act are hereby repealed and/or modified accordingly.

SEC.20. Separability Clause.- If for any reason, any selection or provision of his Act
is declared to be unconstitutional or invalid, the other sections or provisions of this Act which
are not otherwise affected shall continue in full force and effect.

SEC.21. Effectivity. - This Act shall take effect after fifteen (15) days from its
publication in the Official Gazette or in two (2) newspaper of general circulation.

Approved,

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