SC to seek P6 B more for 2015 budget

MANILA, Philippines - After being spurned by Malacañang, the Supreme Court (SC) is wishing for better luck in Congress in its bid for a higher budget next year.

Several justices and officials of the SC will face the House committee on appropriations in a hearing today, hoping for a P6-billion increase in the P19.499-billion budget approved by Malacañang for the judiciary.

Court insiders said Associate Justices Diosdado Peralta and Bienvenido Reyes will lead the delegation of the high court in the budget hearing where Deputy Court Administrator Raul Villanueva has been tasked to make a presentation for SC’s fiscal needs.

They will explain to the committee chaired by Davao City Rep. Isidro Ungab why the judiciary needs P25.5 billion in funds next year.

One of the sources told The STAR that the SC has submitted this amount to the executive branch, but the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) recommended only P17.3 billion before the Palace increased it to P19.499 billion.

“The DBM did not put a single centavo on many items requested by the court,” said a highly placed source privy to the preparation of the SC’s budget request but has no authority to speak on the matter.

While the Palace has projected an increase of P900 million in the budget of the judiciary in the proposed national budget for next year, the funding of the courts has actually dipped further.

The judiciary has P18.560 billion to spend this year, which represents about 0.8 percent of the national budget.

Based on the proposed budget submitted by the Palace to Congress, the SC’s budget of P19.499 billion next year represents 0.65 percent of the total P2.606-trillion national budget – the lowest percentage in years.

The P6-billion cut made by the Palace on the judiciary’s proposed budget came after the SC voided President Aquino’s controversial discretionary funds known as the Disbursement Acceleration Program.

Aside from the judiciary’s budget for 2015, the committee might also tackle the Judiciary Development Fund (JDF), which some allies of the President said is the judiciary’s pork barrel.

The move of administration allies in the House to probe the JDF was perceived as their retaliation to the SC’s decision last year voiding the congressional pork barrel funds.

Earlier this month, Chief Justice Maria Liyrdes Sereno was invited by the House committee on justice to its hearing last Aug. 4 on the alleged misuse of the JDF.

Sereno said she would have to consult first with the full court on the matter even as she told the House in a letter that the hearing is “inappropriate” and “premature.”

In December last year, Sereno explained the JDF is not the same as the controversial pork barrel fund of lawmakers.

She said the JDF is “a special purpose fund established in 1984 under Presidential Decree No. 1949 for the benefit of the members and personnel of the judiciary to help ensure and guarantee the independence of the judiciary as mandated by the Constitution and public policy and required by the impartial administration of justice.”

She stressed that unlike the pork barrel, JDF is not discretionary as the law also requires that 80 percent of the fund “shall be used for cost of living allowances” while not more than 20 percent “shall be used for office equipment and facilities of the courts.”