Republic Act No. 10071

This Act shall be known as the "Prosecution Service Act of 2010."

The constituent offices herein covered shall include the Prosecution Staff and the Regional, Provincial and City Prosecution Offices under the Secretary of Justice, that compose the National Prosecution Service as created and established in the succeeding sections.

There is hereby created and established a National Prosecution Service to be composed of the prosecution staff in the Office of the Secretary of Justice and such number of regional prosecution offices, offices of the provincial prosecutor and offices of the prosecutor as are hereinafter Provided, which shall be primarily responsible for the preliminary investigation and prosecution of all cases involving violations of penal laws under the supervision of the Secretary of Justice, subject to the provisions of Sections 4, 5 and 7 hereof.

The power vested in the Secretary of Justice includes authority to act directly on any matter involving national security or a probable miscarriage of Justice within the jurisdiction of the prosecution staff, regional prosecution office, and the provincial prosecutor or the city prosecutor and to review, reverse, revise, modify or affirm on appeal or petition for review as the law or the rules of the Department of Justice (DOJ) may provide, final judgements and orders of the prosecutor general, regional prosecutors, provincial prosecutors, and city prosecutors.

For purposes of determining the cases which may be acted on, directly by the Secretary of Justice, the phrase "national security" shall refer to crimes against national security as Provided under the Penal Code, Book II, Title 1, and other cases involving acts of terrorism as defined under the Human Security Act under Republic Act No. 9372.

There shall be in the Office of the Secretary of Justice a prosecution staff that shall be composed of prosecuting officers in such number as herein below determined. It shall be headed by a Prosecutor General who shall be assisted by the following:

There shall be at each administrative region, except 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, one (1) Senior Assistant Regional Prosecutor, three (3) Assistant Regional Prosecutors, and one (1) Prosecution Attorney.

For purposes of this regionalization, the NCR shall be placed under the administrative supervision of the Prosecutor General.

The Regional Prosecutor shall, under the control and supervision of the Secretary of Justice, have the following powers and functions:

There still be for each province or city a Provincial Prosecutor or city Prosecutor, as the case may be, who shall be assisted by at least one (1) Deputy Provincial Prosecutor or Deputy City Prosecutor and such number of assistant and associate prosecutors as provided for hereinafter. Provided, however, That whenever a new province or city is created, it shall have a provincial prosecutor or city prosecutor, a deputy provincial prosecutor or deputy city prosecutor and such number of assistant and associate prosecutors as there are court branches therein at the ratio of two (2) prosecutors for each branch of regional trial court, one (1) prosecutor for each branch of metropolitan trial court or municipal trial court in cities, and one (1) prosecutor for every two (2) municipal trial courts in municipalities or branches thereof municipal circuit trial courts.

Upon the establishment of the new province or city, position items of Prosecutor of the Office of the Provincial Prosecutor for the mother province in excess of the new equivalent pursuant to the ratio established above for the courts or branches thereof that remained to be served by the office shall be transferred automatically to the Office of the provincial Prosecutor or Office of the City Prosecutor for the new province or city, as the case may be: Provided, further, That when all or almost all of the regional trial court branches are seated at the city, the number of prosecutors for the city shall be proportional to the territorial jurisdiction covered by such branches of the courts.

In case a province is reverted to the mother province or a city is reconverted into a municipality for whatever reason, all the prosecution position items of the Office of the Provincial Prosecutor or Office of the City Prosecutor shall go to the Office of the Provincial Prosecutor for the mother province: Provided, however, That the position title provincial prosecutor or city prosecutor for the former province or city shall be changed to Assistant Provincial Prosecutor or Associate Prosecutor, as the case may be, and shall have the corresponding rank provided in Section 15.

When the exigencies of the service so require, a province or city may create positions for special counsels whose salaries and other emoluments shall come exclusively from local funds.

The provincial prosecutor shall:

There shall be for each of the following provinces the corresponding number of provincial prosecutor and his/her deputies, assistants and associates:

When an office of the provincial prosecutor has more than one (1) deputy provincial prosecutor, the incumbent deputy provincial prosecutor first appointed shall be called senior deputy provincial prosecutor.

There shall be for each of the following cities the corresponding number of City Prosecutor and his/her deputies, assistants and associates.

When an Office of the City Prosecutor has more than one (1) deputy city prosecutor, the incumbent deputy city prosecutor first appointed shall be called senior deputy city prosecutor first appointed shall be called senior deputy city prosecutor.

Upon the approval of this Act, 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 Secretary of Justice shall correspondingly realign position items of prosecutors to the new cities or provinces from the provinces where cities are located or the provinces used to be part of, without prejudice to the provision of Section 8 hereof.

After the approval of this Act, branches of the Regional Trial Court that are seated t the city and 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 be exclusively raffled to, tried and heard. Upon such division, the Secretary of Justice shall also realign position items of prosecutor of the Office of the Provincial Prosecutor and the Office of the City Prosecutor affected.

Whenever new courts or branches thereof are created, there shall be automatically created for the province or city where such courts or branches are seated positions of assistant and associate prosecutors in such number determined pursuant to the ratio established in Section 8 hereof: Provided, however, That if the branches of a regional trial court shall be seated at a city outside the metropolitan area established by law, the number of positions shall be distributed between the city and the province where the city is located according to the territorial jurisdiction covered by such branch: Provided, further, That in case the branches created are of regional trial court, not less than one-half of the corresponding prosecutors shall have the rank of Prosecutor III If the province or city has at least twenty-five (25) prosecutors, including the additional, or the city is in a metropolitan area established by law, and the rest, Prosecutor II; otherwise, they may have the ranks of Prosecutor II and Prosecutor I.

The Prosecutor General 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 the Presiding Justice of the Court of Appeals and shall be appointed by the President.

The Prosecutors in the National Prosecution Service shall have the following ranks:

| RANK | POSITION/TITLE | | --- | --- | | Prosecutor V | (1) Senior Deputy State Prosecutors;

Prosecutor with the rank of Prosecutor V shall have the same qualification for appointment, rank, 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 a n associate justice of the Court of Appeals.

Prosecutors with the 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.

Prosecutor 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.

Prosecutor with the rank of Prosecutor II 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.

Prosecutor 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 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 Justices 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. They shall be appointed by the President of the Philippines upon recommendation of the Secretary of Justice and 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.

A prosecution attorney or special counsel shall be a member of the bar in good standing and shall have a salary under Salary Grade 25. Such prosecution officer shall be appointed by the Secretary of Justice: Provided, however, That with respect to a special counsel, his/her appointment shall be upon the recommendation of the provincial governor or city mayor and with the endorsement of the provincial prosecutor or city prosecutor, as the case may be.

Subject to Section 20 hereof, the salaries and allowances of regional, provincial and city prosecutors and their assistants, and the members of the prosecution staff, including the prosecution attorneys, 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 than those of prosecutors in the National Prosecution Service, notwithstanding any provision of law assimilating the salaries of other officers to those herein mentioned.

Upon approval of this Act, the prosecuting officers, including the prosecution attorneys, in the present prosecution staff shall continue in office to discharge the functions under this Act, and the position titles Chief State Prosecutor and Assistant Chief State Prosecutor are respectively renamed Prosecutor General and Senior Deputy State Prosecutor. All prosecutors who have the ranks of Prosecutor III and Prosecutor II in the existing prosecution staff shall be called Senior Assistant State Prosecutors and Assistant State Prosecutors, respectively, under this Act.

The Regional, Provincial or City Prosecution Office established as teach of the regions, provinces or cities pursuant to law is retained and renamed Regional Prosecution Office, Office of the Provincial Prosecutor or Office if the City Prosecutor, as the case may be.

All regional, provincial and city prosecutors and their assistants shall continue in office to discharge their functions under this Act.

All Assistant Prosecutor who have the ranks Prosecutor Iv, Prosecutor II, Prosecutor II and Prosecutor I in each of the existing regional, provincial and city prosecution offices shall be known by the position titles provided in Section 15 hereof: Provided, however, That in provinces or cities with at least twenty-five (25) prosecutors and in cities within a metropolitan area established by law all assistant prosecutors with the rank of Prosecutor I before the enactment of this Act shall be upgraded to Prosecutor II upon the approval of this Act and shall bear the title Assistant Provincial Prosecutor or Assistant City Prosecutor, as the case may be.

Nothing in this Act shall be construed to demote a prosecutor or to diminish his salary. In the event that all the incumbent prosecutors are not accommodated by the number of position items allocated, the excess incumbents shall continue in the service until they are accommodated, transferred or separated.

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 any place 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 Provincial Prosecutor or City Prosecutor shall be detailed or assigned to another office or station, except in a concurrent capacity and with his or her written consent.

The special allowances granted to the members of the National Prosecution Service under Republic Act No. 9279 shall continue to be given to them subject to the provisions hereof: Provided, however, that the amount not supported by the funding source specified in Section3 thereof to complete the equivalent of hundred percent (100%) of the basic salary shall be paid through appropriations included in the budget of the DOJ: Provided, further, That when the amount being supported by the said funding source shall have been also included in the General Appropriations, the fees authorized under said Section 3 shall no longer be collected.

When a prosecutor, who has rendered at least fifteen (15) years of service either in the National Prosecution Service or in any branch of government, or in both, retires for having attained the age of sixty-five (65) years or resigns by reason of incapacity to discharge the duties of his/her office, he/she shall, during the residue of his/her natural life, in the manner hereinafter Provided, receive a retirement pension based on the highest monthly salary, plus the highest monthly aggregate of transportation, living and representation allowances, which he/she was receiving at the time of his/her retirement or resignation.

When a prosecutor has attained the age of sixty (60) years and has rendered at least fifteen (15) years of service in government, the last five (5) years of which must have been continuously rendered in the prosecution service, he/she shall likewise be entitled to retire and receive during the residue of his/her natural life the same benefits Provided for in this section: Provided, however, that those with less than fifteen (15) years of service in the government shall be entitled to a pro-rata pension computed as follows:

| No. of years In Government15 years | Basic Pay Plus the Highest Monthly Aggregate of Transportation, Living and Representation Allowances |

To maintain entitlement to the pension herein Provided, no prosecutor, during the time he/she is receiving said pension, shall appear as counsel before any judicial or quasi-judicial or quasi-judicial agency in any civil case wherein the Government or any agency, subdivision, or instrumentality thereof is an adverse party, or in any criminal case wherein any officer or employee of the Government is accused of an offense committed in relation to his/her office, or collect any fee for his/her appearance in any administrative proceedings to maintain an interest adverse to the government , whether national, provincial, or municipal or to any of its legally constituted officers. When a prosecutor covered under this Act shall assume an elective public office, he/she shall not, upon assumption of office and during his/her term, retrieve the monthly pension or any of the allowance due to him/her.

All pension benefits of retired prosecutors of the National Prosecution Service shall be automatically increased whenever there is an increase n the salary and allowance of the same position from which he retired.

The benefits mentioned in Sections 14 and 16 hereof shall be granted to all those who retired prior to the effectivity of this Act.

All benefits heretofore extended under Republic Act No. 910, as amended, and all other benefits that may be extended by the way of amendment thereto shall likewise be given to the prosecutors covered by this Act.

There is hereby appropriated initially the sum of Fifty million pesos (P50,000,000.00) from the funds of the National Treasury not otherwise appropriated for the organization and operational expenses of the Office of the Prosecutor General for a period of one (1) year form the effectivity of this Act. The said amount shall be added to the annual budget of the DOJ.

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.

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 affected shall continue in full force and effect.

This Act shall take effect after fifteen (15) days following its publication in at least two (2) newspapers of general circulation or in the Official Gazette.

| (Sgd.) PROSPERO C. NOGRALES Speaker of the House of Representatives | (Sgd.) JUAN PONCE ENRILE President of the Senate |

This Act was passed by the Senate and the House of Representatives on August 24, 2009 and January 26, 2010, respectively.

| (Sgd.) MARILYN B. BARUA-YAP Secretary General House of Represenatives | (Sgd.) EMMA LIRIO-REYES Secretary of Senate |

Approved:

GLORIA MACAPAGAL-ARROYO President of the Philippines

Lapsed into law on April 08, 2010 without the signature of the President, in accordance with Article VI Section 27 (1) of the Constitution