Judges threaten mass leave

Judiciary budget cut causing rumblings

Judges are ready to go on a mass leave to protest the possible cut in the Judiciary’s budget for 2011.

Philippine Judges Association (PJA) president and Manila Regional Trial Court (RTC) Judge Antonio Eugenio said he has received calls and communications from different judges in the country who are asking if they should go on a mass leave over the Judiciary’s proposed budget cut.

The Supreme Court earlier warned of a judicial revolt over the proposed budget cut.

“Right now mababa ang morale ng ilan sa ating mga hukom kaya’t ang iba pa gustong ipursige ang mass leave [The morale of the a number of magistrates is low right now so there are those who want to pursue a mass leave],” Eugenio told The Manila Times.

But he said that the PJA board has not yet settled the issue on whether to hold a mass leave to protest the proposed budget cuts to the Judiciary.

Eugenio said that most of the budget given to them is used primarily for office supplies and salaries. He added that many judges have accumulated debts because of their rather low salaries.

A Regional Trial Court judge receives P30,000 to P35,000 a month while a Metropolitan Trial Court judge receives P25,000.

The Supreme Court asked for a P27-billion budget for 2011 but the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) slashed it by more than a half to P14 billion.

Congress issues warning

Meanwhile, lawmakers on Monday cautioned the Judiciary’s plan on staging a mass leave if its funding woes are not resolved.

House Committee on Appropriations Chairman and Rep. Joseph Emilio Abaya of Cavite described the threat of a mass leave by magistrates as a surprise, since Congress had requested the Judiciary to submit the peso value needed to fill up the 25-percent vacant positions in the ranks of judges.

He even said that the High Court should not engage lawmakers in such a mind game because they can talk as co-equals in the first place.

“Their clamor for more [funds] is not new. I think that they think of this as a mind game wherein we want to be heard so that the concerned people will give in to what they want. They are thinking that they won’t be heard if they remain mum. The problem with mind games is that in the end, you might not achieve the goals that you want. I’d rather talk than play mind games,” Abaya said.

Rep. Rolando Andaya Jr. of Camarines Sur backed Abaya’s statements, saying that convening the Judiciary-Executive-Legislative Advisory Council would be a better way to address the issue.

Congress, Andaya stressed, cannot just print money and give in to all the demands of various government departments, since every agency is seeking a 5-percent to 10-percent share of the gross domestic product (GDP) in their respective budget allocation.

“If you add them all up, it would become 50 percent, which means a tax rate of 50 percent in commodities produced and services rendered in a year. If you would ask the people would you want 50 percent of the GDP to go to social services, they would say yes. But if you rephrase the question and say would you agree to a tax rate of 50 percent so that these services can be funded, there will be an Edsa 4,” he added.

Andaya also said that giving in to the Judiciary’s demand for a bigger budget would result in agencies like the Public Attorney’s Office, Office of the Solicitor General and National Labor Relations Commission seeking a higher allocation.

“My theory is that once this request is granted, the implementation will also be invoked by these agencies. If the people in these agencies would see that allowances similar to what they are entitled to but are withheld from them are being granted in another part of the government, then, invoking equality, they would also demand that the same privileges be granted to them,” he added. –Jomar Canlas And Llanesca T. Panti , Reporters, Manila Times