[ OCA CIRCULAR NO. 69-2018, April 05, 2018 ]

[ OCA CIRCULAR NO. 69-2018, April 05, 2018 ]

[ OCA CIRCULAR NO. 69-2018, April 05, 2018 ]

TO: ALL JUDGES AND CLERKS OF COURT OF THE SECOND LEVEL COURTS

SUBJECT : COURT RESOLUTION DATED 13 FEBRUARY 2018

Pursuant to the 13 February 2018 Resolution in A.M. No. G3-8-02-SC (Re: Guidelines on the Selection and Designation of Executive Judges and Defining Their Powers, Prerogatives and Duties), the Court En Banc RESOLVED to FURTHER AMEND Section 12, Chapter V (Specific Powers, Prerogatives and Duties of Executive Judges in Judicial Supervision) of the said A.M. No. 03-8- 02-SC, as amended, by including therein the Bureau of Customs in the list of agencies authorized to file applications for search warrants in the Regional Trial Courts of Manila and Quezon City involving violations of the Customs and Tariff Modernization Act, the full text of which is reproduced as follows:

Section 12. Issuance of search warrants in special criminal cases by the Regional Trial Courts of Manila and Quezon City. The Executive Judges and, whenever they are on official leave of absence or are not physically present in the station, the Vice-Executive Judges of the RTCs of Manila and Quezon City shall have authority to act on applications filed by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), the Philippine National Police (PNP), the Anti-Crime Task Force (ACTAF), the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), and the Bureau of Customs, for search warrants involving heinous crimes, illegal gambling, illegal possession of firearms and ammunitions as well as violations of the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002, the Intellectual Property Code, the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2001, the Tariff and Customs Code, as amended, and other relevant laws that may hereafter be enacted by Congress, and included herein by the Supreme Court.

The applications shall be personally endorsed by the heads of such agencies and shall particularly describe therein the places to be searched and/or the property or things to be seized as prescribed in the Rules of Court. The Executive Judges and Vice-Executive Judges concerned shall issue the warrants, if justified, which may be served in places outside the territorial jurisdiction of the said courts.

The Executive Judges and the authorized Judges shall keep a special docket book listing names of Judges to whom the applications are assigned, the details of the applications and the results of the searches and seizures made pursuant to the warrants issued.

This Section shall be an exception to Section 2 of Rule 126 of the Rules of Court .(Amendment in bold)

For your information, guidance and strict compliance.

April 5, 2018

(SGD.) RAUL BAUTISTA VILLANUEVA Deputy Court Administrator and Officer-in-Charge Office of the Court Administrator