SC to remit P527 M in SAJ to national gov’t

MANILA, Philippines - The Supreme Court (SC) is returning to the national government P527.1 million earlier allotted for the salary component of its special allowance for the judiciary (SAJ).

In a three-page minute resolution promulgated last Feb. 12, the SC directed its Fiscal Management and Budget Office (FMBO) to remit the amount to the national treasury for the “government general fund” in tranches of P43,925,000 per month until the entire amount is fully remitted.

The SC issued the order after lawyer Corazon Ferrer-Flores, FMBO chief and deputy clerk of court, sought clarification from the tribunal on  the effect of the special provision in the General Appropriations Act (GAA) for this year, which reverted the SAJ’s salary component to the unappropriated surplus of the general fund of the national government.

This means that the special allowances of justices and judges integrated into their salary increases since June 1 last year would now be deposited to the national treasury as income of the general fund.

The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) earlier had proposed the remittance of all balances of SAJ to the national government, but the judiciary protested saying it would undermine the fiscal independence of the judiciary and violate Republic Act 9227 (the law on SAJ). In 2011, judges staged a “Black Monday” protest to express their objection to this.

Because of this, Congress instead just covered the salary component of the SAJ in its special provision, to which the SC agreed. Under the GAA, the amount would be remitted to the national government but the DBM still has to pay this to the justices and judges.

However, upon recommendation of the FMBO, the SC held that the remittance be made in tranches since the balance would still be utilized for the payment of the unpaid special allowances of justices and judges for last month.

The SC also approved the proposal that the deficiency be sourced from its collection for the entire year, thus the need to remit the amount on a monthly basis.

It said these payment terms would also be more convenient and practical for the DBM and would simplify records and processing of transactions against the SAJ fund by the tribunal.