Judiciary needs additional budget to build new courts

Supreme Court Associate Justice Presbitero Velasco INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—The judiciary needs additional budget to build new courts and buy equipment, Supreme Court Associate Justice Presbitero Velasco Jr. said during his interview with the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) Friday.

Velasco is the second most senior justice of the Supreme Court and is automatically nominated for the chief justice position.

“We need to push for additional budget for building new courts and buying equipment,” Velasco said as he expressed appreciation to Congress and the Executive branch for giving the judiciary 1.07 percent of the national budget.

Prior to this, he said the judiciary was only getting about.08 percent of the national budget.