MANILA, Philippines — Trial court judges starting November 2 may impose community service as penalty for minor offenses, the Supreme Court said Wednesday.
The SC on Tuesday approved the guidelines for the imposition of community services as penalty under the Republic Act 11362 or the Community Service Act which President Rodrigo Duterte signed into law on Aug. 8, 2019, the public information office said.
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Imposing community service as a penalty promotes restorative justice and helps decongestion of jails. Under the law, courts have the discretion to requirement community service instead of imprisonment for minor offenses.
“The guidelines, contained in A.M. No. 20-06-14-SC promulgated by the SC En Banc on October 6, shall take effect on November 2, 2020 after the required publication,” the SC PIO said.
Under the guidelines, judges are duty-bound to inform the convict of an offense punishable of arresto menor or arresto mayor that he or she can apply the penalty by rendering community service in the place where the crime was committed. The judge must also explain that if they will appeal the conviction, they cannot apply for community service of probation.
Arresto menor or detention for one to 30 days, and arresto mayor or detention from one month and one day to six months.
In allowing community service as penalty, the SC said that the following factors should be considered:
- Gravity of offense
- Circumstances of the case
- Welfare of the society
- Reasonable probability that the accused shall not violate the law while rendering the service
“Application for community service must be filed within the period to perfect an appeal and that the said application shall be resolved within five days from filing thereof. The court should set a hearing to render or promulgate the ruling for this purpose,” the SC PIO said.
Once the application is filed, the court should immediately inform the barangay chairperson or representative of the barangay where the crime was committed, representative of the probation office of the locality and the local government unit’s Social Welfare Development Officer.
Electronic service of notices may be used to notify the said officers.
The court should immediately resolve the application for community service, the SC PIO said, adding that an order granting or denying it is not appealable.
It added that if the accused’s failure to appear at the hearing, except for justified reasons, shall be a ground for denial of the application and a warrant shall be issued.
A full copy of the guidelines however has yet to be made public as of this story’s posting.