Court employees stage protest

MANILA, Philippines - Court personnel all over the country started their “black Monday” protest and reported for work yesterday in black shirts and armbands to show their opposition to the imminent P2-billion cut in the judiciary’s budget for next year.

The Supreme Court (SC) has quickly distanced itself from the protest since the issue over the executive branch’s diversion of P1.98 billion in the judiciary’s proposed 2012 budget to the new item in the national budget called the miscellaneous personnel benefits fund (MPBF) is expected to be questioned before it.

“This is an independent act of our employees. They are free to do what they want to do. I think that’s part of their freedom of expression and right to express their view provided that work will not be hampered,” SC spokesman and Court Administrator Midas Marquez told reporters in an interview.

Members of the Supreme Court Employees Association (SCEA), Philippine Association of Court Employees (PACE) and Judicial Employees

Association of the Philippines (Judea) attended flag-raising ceremonies in the SC and local courts in black outfits.

SCEA president Jojo Guerrero said their “black Monday” protest would continue every week until the executive department heeds their call for the almost P2 billion budget to be returned from MPBF to judiciary’s appropriation.

“It would be a shame if they give us a measly 0.76 percent of the P1.8 trillion (proposed national budget for 2012). All we are asking is for the Constitution to be respected,” he lamented.

Guerrero said their group is asking the Palace “to read the Constitution and do their homework because it clearly states that the budget of the judiciary cannot be lower than the previous year.”

“If our country would not respect the Constitution, then there is nothing there anymore to follow and we should not have a government in that case,” he said.

The SCEA head gave assurance that they would not resort to confrontational or combative means to demonstrate their protest against the proposed budget cut.

“Rest assured that we will never consider work stoppage. What we are doing is just peaceful protest,” he said.

Apart from the SC, the black Monday protest of court employees was also held in cities in the National Capital Region as well as in various courts in Zambales, Pampanga, Bulacan, Zamboanga, and other parts of the country despite rains brought by typhoon “Pedring.”

In Pasay, judges even joined the protest and also wore black during flag-raising ceremony.

In December 2010, the judges had also worn black clothing and armbands every Monday to dramatize their demand for around P1.5 billion in back wages and differentials accumulated since 2007.

Still premature

Meanwhile, judges belonging to the Philippine Judges Association (PJA), Philippine Trial Judge League (PTJL) and Metropolitan and City Judges

Association of the Philippines (MCJAP) have not joined the action, but have thrown their support to their personnel.

PJA president and Manila Regional Trial Court Judge Antonio Eugenio Jr. told The STAR they are confident the budget of the judiciary would not be cut especially with the support of Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile and Sen. Joker Arroyo.

“The PJA will make its move at the proper time though individual judges may express their sympathy with the rank in any manner they see fit,” he said.

Eugenio believes protest is “premature at this time since there is as yet no budget cut as the budget has yet to be approved by Congress.”

Fiscal autonomy

While clarifying that the protest action of court personnel is not sanctioned by the High Court, Marquez agreed with their concern and reiterated possible violation of the constitutional guarantee on fiscal autonomy of the judiciary.

“The Constitution is very clear, it is not subject to any other interpretation,” he pointed out.

He cited Article VIII Section 3 of the Charter, which states: “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.”

Aside from fiscal autonomy, Marquez stressed that the Constitution also stipulates that the budget of the judiciary shall not be lower than the previous budget. The judiciary’s current budget for this year is P14.3 billion.

The SC official stressed that the amount being taken away from the judiciary is meant for projects including the enhanced Justice on Wheels (EJOW) program, allowances for court employees and for fringe benefits.

Courage backs Judea

State workers united under the Confederation for Unity, Recognition and Advancement of Government Employees or Courage expressed support to the “black Monday” protest of Judea, one of its affiliates.

“The proposed P101.5 billion MPBF is an issue that will affect all employees from all branches of government, not just those from the judiciary because apart from judiciary’s funds, the P101.5

billion MPBF will also be culled from savings due to the large number of unfilled positions in all branches of government. As of 2010, the total number of casual, contractual and coterminous public sector

employees has swelled to 139,052. It is simply infuriating to see that instead of harnessing this amount towards improving public service by hiring new employees, regularizing casual/contractual/job order employees or promoting current ones, the administration plans on using it as the President’s pork barrel,” Courage national president Ferdinand Gaite said.

He added, “We are enraged over such a large sum appropriated solely for Aquino’s pork barrel, while overworked and underpaid rank-and-file employees continue to survive in abject conditions amidst the soaring prices of basic commodities.”

“We are supporting Judea’s fight against the impending budget cuts and the excessive MPBF allocation. We challenge the Aquino administration to allocate the MPBF towards providing immediate economic relief for the country’s 1.3 million government workers,” the Courage statement read. - With Sandy Araneta, Ric Sapnu, Dino Balabo, Rhodina Villanueva