Judges’ stipend, a matter of ethics
IS it ethical for members of the judiciary to receive monthly allowances from local government units (LGUs)?
Under the Local Government Code of 1991, local governments can “provide for additional allowances and other benefits to judges, prosecutors, public elementary and high school teachers and other national government officials stationed in or assigned to the city.”
But Associate Justice Gabriel Ingles of the Court of Appeals doesn’t want to taint the people’s perspective of judicial independence.
Ingles cited Sec. 5, canon 1 of the New Code of Conduct of the Philippine Judiciary which states that “judges shall not only be free from inappropriate connection with, and influence by the executive and legislative branches of government and must also appear to be free therefrom to a reasonable observer.”
“It is clear from such rule that it is the duty of the judge to promote confidence in the judiciary by being independent. This requires that a judge must not only be actually independent but also appear to be so. Actual and appearance of independence are equally important for public confidence in the judiciary,” Ingles explained.
Ingles, who is the only judge from Cebu City who refused to accept allowances from any LGU, said he simply wants to be consistent in his stand.
He nonetheless respects the decision of other judges who continue to receive allowances from LGUs.
Last Wednesday, metropolitan trial court judges visited Cebu Gov. Hilario Davide III where they expressed their desire to receive an allowance from the provincial government.
“If in case the Capitol has enough budget, we, MTCC judges, would like to receive an allowance from the province. We all know that our counterparts in the RTC have been receiving a monthly allowance from the Capitol,” MTCC Executive Judge Francisco Seville told reporters yesterday.
Each MTCC judge is presently receiving a monthly stipend of P30,000 from the Cebu City government but according to Seville, they receive none from the Capitol.
On the other hand, each regional trial court judge in Cebu City receives P35,000 from the city government and P12,000 from the Capitol.
Seville said they also requested the governor for a storage area for court records as well as to address the delays in the delivery of office supplies.
RTC Judge Simeon Dumdum, in a separate interview, said the issue on judges’ allowances was also tackled when they visited Davide over a week ago.
“The governor didn’t say he will discontinue or reduce the allowances they give to judges. He simply said that he will study the matter due to present finances of the province,” Dumdum said.
judicial independence
The issue of judges’ allowances from LGUs became controversial in 2008 when Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia, reportedly withheld the monthly allowance of RTC Judge Bienvenido Saniel after he ruled against the province in a civil case.
The issue prompted RTC Judge Meinrado Paredes and then RTC Judge Ingles to waive their allowances from the Capitol in protest of what they said was an assault on judicial independence.
