SC approves increase in budget for retirement rites of CA justices

MANILA, Philippines — The Supreme Court has approved the increase in the budget for retirement rites of Court of Appeals Justices.

In a five-page resolution made public Thursday, the high court granted the request of Court of Appeals Presiding Justice Romeo Barza to increase the maximum allowance for the retirement celebration of CA magistrates effective July 1.

With the high court’s approval, the budget will now be P1.2 million from P200,000 for every retiring associate justice and P1.5 million for retiring presiding justice.

The high court has agreed to increase the budget for the retirement rites of appeals court justices because it was much lower compared to the retirement budget for the Sandiganbayan and Court of Tax Appeals.

The budget is for the retirement ceremony, which covers food for the justices and employees, judicial tokens, souvenirs for guests and other miscellaneous expenses during the court’s
special session.

The appeals court has 68 justices and 1,660 employees, which is more than the staff at the Sandiganbayan and Court of Tax Appeals.

The SC, however, did not grant the request for an automatic 10 percent budget increase yearly to cushion the effects of inflation. It said it would still have to review subsequent increases subject to the availability of funds and prevailing circumstances. /ee