A.M. No. 12-2-03-0 - Perpetual Help Community Cooperative vs. Supreme Court

Perpetual Help Community Cooperative (PHCCI), through counsel, filed a petition dated 24 October 2011 seeking issuance of a court order to clarify and implement the exemption of cooperatives from payment of court and sheriff's fees pursuant to Republic Act No. 6938, as amended by Republic Act No. 9520 (Philippine Cooperative Code of 2008).
PHCCI claimed exemption based on Section 6, Article 61 of RA No. 9520 which reiterated Section 62, paragraph 6 of RA No. 6938, providing cooperatives exemption from payment of all court and sheriff's fees payable to the Philippine Government for actions brought under the Cooperative Code.
PHCCI argued that despite this exemption granted by law and Supreme Court issuances (A.M. No. 03-4-01-0 and OCA Circular No. 44-2007), it continued to be assessed legal and other fees when filing cases.

PHCCI filed a motion with the Executive Judge of the Municipal Trial Court in Cities (MTCC) Dumaguete, requesting implementation of exemption.
The Executive Judge treated the motion as mere consulta since no main action was pending and expressed reservations especially because many PHCCI cases were small claims where filing fees are generally required unless litigant is indigent.
Executive Judge referred the issue to the Supreme Court for uniform policy and system regarding collection of fees.

The Supreme Court noted that "all court fees" under RA No. 9520 refers to the totality of legal fees imposed under Rule 141 of the Rules of Court, including filing/docket fees, appeal fees, provisional remedy fees, mediation fees, sheriff's fees, stenographers', and commissioners' fees.
In a 1 September 2009 extended minute resolution, the Court clarified that exemptions granted to cooperatives under RA No. 6938 and RA No. 9520 do not cover actual sheriff's travel expenses, which are not court or sheriff's fees payable to the government.
However, the 1 September 2009 Resolution exempted cooperatives from court fees but not from sheriff’s expenses.

On 11 February 2010, in A.M. No. 08-2-01-0, the Court denied the Government Service Insurance System’s (GSIS) claim for exemption from legal fees under Section 22 of Rule 141, ruling that Congress cannot alter procedural rules including legal fees which are the exclusive domain of the Supreme Court under the Constitution.
GSIS ruling emphasized the Court’s fiscal autonomy guaranteed by the Constitution, and held that legislative exemptions reducing legal fees collected (Judiciary Development Fund and Special Allowance for the Judiciary Fund) impair judicial independence.
The Court reaffirmed this in BAMARVEMPCO v. Cabato-Cortes (2010) ruling and later in a resolution clarifying that the National Power Corporation is not exempt from legal fees.

Whether cooperatives are exempt from the payment of court and sheriff's fees payable under Rule 141 of the Rules of Court, pursuant to Section 6, Article 61 of RA No. 9520.
Whether exemptions from legal fees granted by Congress under the Cooperative Code remain valid given the Supreme Court’s authority to promulgate procedural rules and its fiscal autonomy.