WHEREAS, Presidential Decree No. 537 has provided for the constitution of Municipal courts into Municipal Circuit courts;

WHEREAS, the Municipal Circuit Courts are the forum where a great majority of the common man in the rural areas seek redress and dispensation of justice;

WHEREAS, the Municipal Circuit Courts being now organized as courts of record like the Courts of First Instance, it has become imperative that the salaries of the Judges presiding over them be adjusted to commensurate levels;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, FERDINAND E. MARCOS, President of the Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me by the Constitution, do hereby decree and order the following:

SECTION 1. The salaries of Municipal Circuit Court Judges are hereby adjusted and increased in accordance with the following rates, effective January 1, 1977:

(a) For Judges of the Capitals of First, Second and Third Class provinces, twenty thousand pesos (P20,000) per annum;

(b) For Judges of all other municipalities, single or circuited, eighteen thousand pesos (P18,000) per annum;

SECTION 2. For purposes of determining the gratuity benefits, any Municipal Judge who shall be laid off or separated from the service as a result of this circuitization or reorganization of the Municipal Courts shall be paid gratuity which shall be computed on the basis of one-month salary for every year of service in the Government unless he elects to retire under another system of retirement.

SECTION 3. To carry out the provisions of this Decree, the Chief Justice is hereby allowed to use savings under P.D. 904. Thereafter, the same amount or such amounts as may be needed shall be included in the annual Appropriations Decree.

SECTION 4. The salaries herein provided shall be paid by the National Government.

SECTION 5. This Decree shall take effect on January 1, 1977.

DONE in the City of Manila, this 4th day of May, in the year of Our Lord, Nineteen Hundred and Seventy-Seven.

 

			(Sgd.) FERDINAND E. MARCOS President of the Philippines
	By the President:
	(Sgd.) JACOBO C. CLAVE
		Presidential Executive Assistant