[ OCA CIRCULARS NO. 27-2002, June 25, 2002 ]

[ OCA CIRCULARS NO. 27-2002, June 25, 2002 ]

[ OCA CIRCULARS NO. 27-2002, June 25, 2002 ]

TO: ALL EXECUTIVE JUDGES AND CLERKS OF COURT OF THE REGIONAL TRIAL COURTS

RE:

CLARIFICATION ON THE GUIDELINES IN THE ACCREDITATION OF NEWSPAPERS AND PERIODICALS

The guidelines set forth in the 16 October 2001 Resolution of the Supreme Court in Administrative Matter No. 01-1-07-SC (Re: Guidelines in the Accreditation of Newspapers and in the Distribution of Legal Notices and Advertisements for Publication) seek to address the confusion in the implementation of Presidential Decree No. 1079 (Revising and Consolidating All Laws and Decrees Regulating Publication of Judicial Notices, Advertisements for the Public Bidding, Notices of Auction Sales and Other Similar Notices). The purposes and the amount they could charge for publishing judicial and the legal notices. To this end, if require applicants for accreditation to submit with their applications the necessary documents to ensure faithful compliance with the provisions of P. D. No. 1079.

For the effective implementation of the guidelines and its avowed purpose, Executive Judges should require newspapers of periodicals, if they have not done so, to submit new applications for accreditation supported by documents required and evaluate such applications in the light of the new rules.

All applications for accreditation under the new guidelines should be submitted on or before the 31st of July 2002 and Executive Judges should make final determination thereon on or before the 15th of September 2002.

Further, the appears to be confusion in the interpretation of the following provisions of the subject guidelines:

paragraphs (b) and (c), Section 3, provided that:

"(b) A newspaper or periodical has its principal office in the address registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission or with the Department or Trade and Industry.

"(c) A newspaper or periodical which has its principal office in any of the cities or municipalities in a province may be accredited by any one or all the Regional Trial Court Executive Judges in the province, provided that all requisites for accreditation are complied with.

"A newspaper of periodical which has its principal office in any of the cities or municipalities in the National Capital Judicial Region may be accredited by any one or all the Regional Trial Court Executive Judges therein, provided that it satisfies all the requirements for accreditation."

To clarify, once accredited in a particular RTC station, newspaper or periodicals may still apply for accreditation in other RTC stations in the municipalities and cities within the province where its principal office is located.

For example, newspaper "A" has its principal office in Davao City and has been accredited by the RTC Executive Judge therein. In this case, "A" may still apply for accreditation in RTC Digos City and RTC Basalan which city and the actual place where "A" is edited and published is immaterial because Presidential Decree No. 1079 states that the principal office of a newspaper or periodical is deemed to be the place where it is edited and published. What is important is that "A" is a general circulation not only in Davao city but also in the respective territorial jurisdictions of RTC Digos City and RTC Bansalan.

Section 6 (c) of the guidelines provides that:

"SEC. 6. (T)he newspaper or periodical must have been regularly published for at least one (1) year before the date of the application; and, after accreditation, before the date of each and every raffle participated in by the accredited publication. A newspaper or periodical is regularly published if it comes out with 365 or 52 issues those issued daily or weekly, respectively."

The periodical contemplated refers to that is immediately before the date of the application and before the date of each and every raffle, regardless of the date it registered with any government agency. So that a newspaper or periodical applying for accreditation on June 1, 2002 must have been regularly issued from June 1, 2001 to May 31, 2002, and should it participate in a raffle schedule on December 15, 2002, it must have been regularly issued from December 15, 2001 to December 14, 2002.

3. Section 7 provides that:

"SEC. 7. Absence of qualified newspapers or periodicals.— In the event that there is no newspaper or periodical qualified to be accredited in the station of the Regional Trial Court, the qualified publication in the nearest city or province may be accredited."

This section does not imply that an accredited newspaper may immediately be allowed to publish legal notices in RTC stations where there are no qualified periodicals as it still has to apply for accreditation therein.

For information and guidance.

25 June 2002

PRESBITERO J. VELASCO, JR.

Court Administrator