Home›Statutes›Administrative Orders›Administrative Order No. 23
Administrative Order No. 23
ADMINISTRATIVE ORDER NO. 23 PRESCRIBING THE RULES AND PROCEDURES ON THE INVESTIGATION OF ADMINISTRATIVE DISCIPLINARY CASES AGAINST ELECTIVE LOCAL OFFICIALS OF PROVINCES, HIGHLY URBANIZED CITIES, INDEPENDENT COMPONENT CITIES, COMPONENT CITIES, AND CITIES AND MUNICIPALITIES IN METROPOLITAN MANILA.
SECTION 1. Coverage. These rules and procedures shall apply to administrative disciplinary cases filed against (a) the governors, and members of the sangguniang panlalawigan; (b) the mayors, vice mayors, and members of the sangguniang panlungsod of highly urbanized cities, independent component cities, and component cities; and (c) the mayors, vice mayors, and members of the sangguniang panlungsod or bayan of cities or municipalities in Metropolitan Manila.
SEC. 2. Disciplinary Authority. All Administrative complaints, duly verified, against elective local officials mentioned in the preceding Section shall be acted upon by the President. The President, who may act through the Executive Secretary, shall hereinafter be referred to as the Disciplining Authority.
SEC. 3. Investigating Authority. The Secretary of the Interior and Local Government is hereby designated as the Investigating Authority. He may constitute an Investigating Committee in the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) for the purpose. Rule 2 GROUNDS FOR ADMINISTRATIVE DISCIPLINARY ACTION
SEC. 4. Filing fee. A fee of Two Hundred Pesos (P200.00) shall be charged for every complaint filed with the Office of the President, payable to the “Cashier, Office of the President.” Pauper complaints duly certified as such in accordance with the Rules of Court shall be exempted from the payment of the filing fee. Rule 4 ANSWER
SEC. 5. Preliminary conference. If the Investigating Authority determines that there is prima facie case to warrant the institution of formal administrative proceedings, it shall, within the same period prescribed under the preceding Section, summon the parties to a preliminary conference to consider the following: a) Whether the parties desire a formal investigation or are willing to submit the case for resolution on the basis of the evidence on record; and b) If the parties desire a formal investigation, to consider the simplification of issues, the possibility of obtaining stipulation or admission of facts and of documents, specifically affidavits and depositions, to avoid unnecessary proof, the limitation of number of witnesses, and such other matters as may aid the prompt disposition of the case. The Investigating Authority shall encourage the parties and their counsels to enter, at any stage of the proceedings, into amicable settlement, compromise and arbitration, the terms and conditions of which shall be subject to the approval of the Disciplining Authority. After the preliminary conference, the Investigating Authority shall issue an order reciting the matters taken up thereon, including the facts stipulated and the evidences marked, if any. Such order shall limit the issues for hearing to those not disposed of by agreement or admission of the parties, and shall schedule the formal investigation within ten (10) days from its issuance, unless a later date is mutually agreed in writing by the parties concerned.
SEC. 6. Venue of hearing. When the respondent is an elective official of a province or highly urbanized city, the preliminary investigation as contemplated in this Rule shall be conducted in the place where he renders or holds office. For all other local elective officials, the venue shall be the place where the sanggunian concerned is located.
SEC. 7. 90-day ban. No preliminary investigation shall be imposed within ninety (90) days immediately prior to any local election. Rule 6 PREVENTIVE SUSPENSION
SEC. 8. Postponement. Postponement of investigation shall be discouraged and shall be allowed only in meritorious cases, like illness of the parties or counsels and other similar case. No postponement for a period longer than seven (7) days shall be allowed, and in no case shall the total number of postponements for one party be more than twenty (20) days.
SEC. 9. Stenographic record of proceedings. The testimony of each witness and the manifestation of the parties and counsels during an investigation shall be taken in shorthand or stenotype. A transcript of the proceedings made by the official stenographer or stenotypist and duly certified by him shall be prima facie a correct statement of such proceedings.
SEC. 10. Order of hearing. Unless otherwise directed by the Investigating Authority, the order of a hearing shall be as follows: a) The complainant shall produce the evidence on his part; b) The respondent shall then offer evidence in support of his defense; and c) The parties may then respectively offer rebutting evidence, unless the Investigating Authority, for good reasons and in the furtherance of justice, permits them to offer evidence upon their original case.
SEC. 11. Order of Examination. The order in which a witness may be examined shall be as follows: a) Direct examination by the proponent; b) Cross examination by the opponent; c) Re-direct examination by the proponent; and d) Re-cross examination by the opponent.
SEC. 12. Termination of formal investigation. The formal investigation of the case shall be terminated by the Investigating Authority within ninety (90) days from the start thereof. Unreasonable failure to complete the formal investigation after the said period by the person or persons assigned to investigate shall be a ground for disciplinary action.
SEC. 13. Memoranda. The Investigating Authority may allow the parties to submit their respective memoranda, together with their respective draft resolutions and orders for consideration of the Investigating Authority, within fifteen (15) days after the termination of the formal investigation. Rule 8 EVIDENCE