Congress asked to OK CA budget

BAGUIO CITY — Court of Appeals Presiding Justice Ruben Reyes asked Congress yesterday to approve the CA’s proposed P109 million budget increase for 2006.

In an interview with journalists, Reyes said the heftier budget is intended to fund the operation of two satellite courts in Cebu and Cagayan de Oro City.

He said the proposed CA budget this year is P542 million, P109 million higher than its 2005 budget of P433 million "because we don’t have enough to sustain our operations based on our current budget. We are trying to make both ends meet, but it (the existing CA budget) is too tight."

Reyes said the implementation of projects to improve the CA’s facilities has been stalled due to lack of funds and that they are using the CA’s savings to sustain the operations of its two court stations in the Visayas and Mindanao.

"There is a proposition to shelve the regionalization of the CA unless Congress allocates funds for the CA’s operations," he said.

The CA’s offices in Cebu City are located at the Midway building on Happy Valley street corner Salvador extension in Banawa, while the CA office in Cagayan de Oro City is housed in a four-story building owned by the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA). — Jose Rodel Clapano