MALACAÑANG 
Manila

PRESIDENTIAL DECREE No. 26

EXTENDING FRANKING PRIVILEGE TO PAPERS
CONNECTED WITH JUDICIAL PROCEEDINGS

WHEREAS, it is a primordial duty of the Government to restore and strengthen the faith of the people in our judicial tribunals as effective instrumentalities for the redress of their grievances;

WHEREAS, it is necessary to equip the existing machinery of justice with all the necessary facilities which will enable it to act swiftly;

WHEREAS, one of the causes for the delay of judicial proceedings is the inability of our tribunals to promptly notify the parties of scheduled court proceedings for lack of postage stamps;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, FERDINAND E. MARCOS, President of the Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me by the Constitution as Commander-in-Chief of all the Armed Forces of the Philippines and pursuant to Proclamation No. 1081, dated September 21, 1972, do hereby order and decree as part of the law of the land that:

(1) Judges of the Courts of First Instance, Circuit Criminal Courts, Juvenile and Domestic Relations Courts, Courts of Agrarian Relations, Court of Industrial Relations, Military Tribunals and City and Municipal Courts, may transmit in the mail, free of charge, all official communications and papers directly connected with the conduct of judicial proceedings.

(2) The envelope or wrapper of the privileged mail matter shall bear on the left upper corner the name, official designation and station of the official sending such mail matter and on the right upper corner, the words: “Private or unauthorized use to avoid payment of postage is penalized by fine or imprisonment or both”.

(3) The Secretary of Public Works, Transportation and Communication shall, within thirty (30) days from the publication of this Decree, promulgate the necessary rules and regulations to carry out the foregoing provisions, Provided, That any person who uses the privilege granted hereunder for private or unauthorized purposes shall be punished by a fine of five hundred pesos or imprisonment of not more than three years or both.

This Decree shall take effect immediately.

Done in the City of Manila, this 21st day of October, in the year of Our Lord, nineteen hundred and seventy-two.

(Sgd.) FERDINAND E. MARCOS
President of the Philippines

By the President:
(Sgd.) ALEJANDRO MELCHOR
Executive Secretary

Source: Malacañang Records Office