No more allowances for Cebu City judges

Judges in Cebu City have not received their allowances from the Cebu City government for three months now, a sign of internal cash flow problems.

“We don’t know why it was stopped. I will not speculate. But perhaps the city government could no longer sustain the practice of granting allowances to judges,” Judge Simeon Dumdum Jr. of the Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 7 said.

City Administrator Jose Marie Poblete said they stopped giving the monthly P35,000 allowance to each judge assigned in Cebu City after the P12 million budget for allowances this year ran out.

“Maybe they (judges) didn’t attend the meetings where this was discussed. They should know during meetings and when the budget was passed and approved. Maybe they forgot,” Poblete said.

“Only one half of the budget was approved. We maintained the rate (of allowances). That’s why it was quickly depleted,” Poblete added.

He said the City Council only approved half of the P24 million proposed outlay for allowances.

The city government also stopped giving allowances to all clerks of courts, prosecutors, and Court of Appeals justices in Cebu City.

The grant of allowances by Local Government Units (LGU) is practiced by those that can afford it but the Supreme Court is reviewing the setup amid questions raised that a stipend would affect judicial ind pendence, a situation recently highlighted by the conviction of the Freeman columnist Leo Lastimosa for libel by an RTC Cebu judge in a complaint originally filed by Gwen Garcia when she was Cebu governor.

Volunteered

The Capitol continues to release monthly allowances to judges, prosecutors and clerks of courts.

“There are some court expenses not covered by the Supreme Court. While other offices have a budget for maintenance and other operating expenses (MOOE), judges don’t have that,” RTC Judge Macaundas Hadjirasul said.

Hadjirasul, chairman of the committee on security of the Palace of Justice, said judges usually use their own money for the transportation expenses of their process servers and to buy office supplies, among others.

“Now that we no longer get any allowance from the city, we have to use our salary to buy office supplies and spend for the transportation expenses of our process servers,” he said.

Hadjirasul said there’s little they can do if the city government no longer has funds for this.

“We didn’t ask for any allowance from the city government. It was former Mayor Tomas Osmeña who volunteered to give it. Now that we no longer receive any allowance from the city, it’s all right,” he said.

“We’re ashamed to ask because we don’t have any right to do so. But we know that the local government unit has the discretion to give allowances. Hopefully, the granting of allowances from the city will be revived soon,” he added.

Judges of the Municipal Trial Court in Cities would get P30,000 a month while each CA justice in Cebu City received P45,000 and each clerk of court got P15,000.

Each prosecutor in Cebu City received P18,000 from the city.

Merits

Court of Appeals Justice Gabriel Ingles, who long waived his allowances from Cebu City and the province, earlier said it’s better if the Supreme Court provides the allowances instead.

Chief Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno earlier revealed plans to review the arrangement with LGUs to avoid questions later about conflicts of interest and judicial independence.

Clerk of court, Consolacion Lape of RTC Branch 16 said she hopes the Cebu city government revives the allowance.

“I know the sitting mayor has a heart for everyone. The problem is the budget. We’re not losing hope, however. It may be included in the supplemental budget,” Lape said.

Poblete, Cebu city administrator, said the additional P12 million budget will be included in the proposed supplemental budget.

Once approved, the unreleased allowances will be given on top of the amount allocated for them for the rest of the year.

Poblete said he doesn’t believe the allowances would affect decisions of judges.

“There are still instances where the city loses in court cases. Records will show that judges really base their decisions on the merits of the case,” he said. /Ador Vincent S. Mayol and Jose Santino Bunachita