Judiciary’s co-equal status eroded by budget cut – Sereno
Supreme Court Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno answers media questions during a press conference at the Bayleaf, Intramuros, Manila. RAFFY LERMA
MANILA, Philippines—Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno is complaining that the Judiciary is losing its status as a co-equal branch of government.
Sereno said if one would look into the Judiciary’s budget, it would show that they do not have balance of power in their favor.
“I am not content with what they gave us,” Sereno said during the 2nd Meet the Press event in Intramuros Thursday.
Sereno said the Executive branch, their co-equal branch, has canceled their bid for funding for their projects.
As much as P12 billion was slashed from the judiciary’s proposed 2015 budget by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) in the expenditures program it submitted to the House of Representatives.
The high tribunal had asked the House appropriations committee to retain and approve its proposed P32 billion budget instead of the P20.3 billion the DBM sought on its behalf.
From 2011 to 2015, the increase in the judiciary’s budget is lower than the increase in the national budget for each year. The declining appropriation to the judiciary’s budget resulted in a share of only 0.78 percent in the national budget, one of the lowest in recent years.
The clash between the Executive and the Judiciary started when the Supreme Court declared as unconstitutional the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP).
President Benigno Aquino III called the high court as “meddlesome” and making it hard for him to govern.
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