What Went Before: Judiciary cries foul over budget cut
INQUIRER PHOTO / NIÑO JESUS ORBETA
On September 26, around 200 Supreme Court personnel and lawyers massed outside the Supreme Court to protest Malacañang’s move to slash the judiciary’s 2012 budget.
Workers in the Sandiganbayan, Court of Appeals and the trial courts in Metro Manila belonging to the Judiciary Employees Association of the Philippines (Judea) also held similar protest actions against Malacañang’s decision to transfer a large portion of the judiciary’s budget next year to the Miscellaneous Personnel Benefits Fund (MPBF).
The MPBF, which will be under the control of the Office of the President, lumps together the unspent appropriations for unfilled positions in all three branches of government.
With the transfer of the allocation for unfilled positions in the courts to the MPBF, the judiciary’s 2012 budget of P14.3 billion would be reduced to P13.396 billion.
Diverting funds
Budget Secretary Florencio Abad Jr. said he wanted to end the practice of some institutions, like the Supreme Court, seeking higher staffing allocations only to hire a few employees and divert the funds to bonuses and office renovations.
While the Supreme Court officially distanced itself from the protests, its spokesperson, Midas Marquez, pointed out that the Constitution’s provision regarding the judiciary’s budget was clear.
Section 3 of Article 8 of the Constitution provides: “The judiciary shall enjoy fiscal autonomy. Appropriations for the judiciary may not be reduced by the legislature below the amount appropriated for the previous year and, after approval, shall be automatically and regularly released.”
Judea said the Palace budget move could place the judiciary under Malacañang control, an interference in a coequal branch of government. The group also demanded that its allocation be at least 1 percent of the total national budget.
On Monday, the House of Representatives voted to return to the judiciary control of its share in the P101-billion MPBF.
Source: Inquirer Archives
