No budget cut; lawmakers won’t budge on judiciary allocation

MANILA, Philippines – The Senate and the House of Representatives are not disposed to give in to the clamor of justices, judges and other personnel of the judiciary for more funds next year.

The bicameral conference committee on the proposed P1.645-trillion 2011 budget did not discuss the clamor in its first meeting yesterday and will most likely not touch it in its future meetings.

Reached for comment, Camarines Sur Rep. Rolando Andaya Jr., who chairs a subcommittee in charge of the judiciary budget, said the judiciary would have to live with the P14.3 billion that President Aquino has proposed for it.

Contrary to claims that the appropriations for the judicial branch has been reduced, Andaya said the P14.3 billion represents an increase of P1 billion over this year’s funding of P13.3 billion.

“Our difficulty in giving in to their demand is that this is not a one-time expense. It is a recurring and an increasing expense, which means that it is not a problem just for next year but for succeeding years as well. We have to find additional financing sources to meet their demand,” he said.

Andaya, a former budget secretary, disputed the claims of judges that they have not been getting their salary increases since 2007 or 2008.

He said the increases were taken from their allowances, part of which was added to their basic pay.

“It is the amount of allowances, which should be equivalent to 100 percent of their basic salary, that they now want restored,” he said.

The allowances are funded from internal fees collected by the judiciary, while salaries are taken from the national budget. Based on computations of Andaya, justices of the Supreme Court, despite their clamor for more funds for their allowances, are actually receiving compensation higher than President Aquino’s salary.

He said a justice now gets a basic salary of P69,500.

“They receive up to 70 percent of their basic pay as allowances, which amount to about P48,650. That means that they receive a total of P118,150 a month,” he said.

If the allowances are restored to 100 percent of basic pay, a justice would get a total of P139,000 in monthly compensation, he said.

In contrast, he pointed out that President Aquino receives a gross pay of P95,000 a month.

Justices of the high court are among the highest paid officials of the government, he added.

He explained that under the Judiciary Reform Act of 2004 or Republic Act 9227, members of the judiciary were entitled to receive allowances that should amount to 100 percent of their salaries over a four-year period.

“So by 2007, they have already doubled their salaries. At that time, a justice of the Supreme Court had a basic pay of P44,500, plus an equal amount in allowances or a total of P89,000, while a regional trial court judge had a basic salary of P27,900, plus an equal amount in allowances or a total of P55,800,” he said.

Unlike justices and judges, other government workers started receiving an increase in pay only in 2006, when they were given a P1,000 across-the-board adjustment, he said.

“Then came the four-year upgrading of 10 percent per year in 2009 for the rest of the bureaucracy. The position of justices and judges is that they should be covered by this upgrading program and should be given a 10-percent increase every year up to 2012 despite the fact that they received allowances equivalent to 100 percent of their salaries starting in 2007,” he said.

High court intervening

Malacañang, meantime, sees the hand of the Supreme Court in the judges’ nationwide protest against the alleged reduction in the budget of the judiciary.

Highly-placed sources said based on information they gathered, SC spokesperson Midas Marquez was in touch with SC Deputy Administrator Raul Villanueva and Manila Regional Trial Court Judge Antonio Eugenio for the judges’ appropriate action against the supposed budget cut.

Yesterday, the judges wore black and vowed to stage a protest march to Malacañang to personally air their grievance to President Aquino.

The sources said they could not understand why the SC was claiming that it did not sanction the judges’ action against the Palace and Congress.

The sources added that the move was clearly an attempt to create friction because the judiciary’s budget for 2011 was not really slashed.

When asked by reporters, the SC said it could not decide yet whether to penalize those who joined the protest action.

This developed as three national organization of judges are mulling over plans to have a “judicial revolt” if the government will push through with the alleged budget cut.

Those joining the nationwide protest are the Philippine Judges Association, composed of 1,000 judges nationwide; the Metropolitan Trial Court and City Judges Association, with 500 judges; and the Philippine Trial Judges Association, with judges from the municipal trial court, the municipal circuit trial court and Shariah courts.

A judge, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the judges would not want to resort to drastic action.

But the source also said judges will be charged with abandonment of duty if they will not do their job, so “it is more likely that they will just resort to a mass leave.”

The judge also disclosed that members of the three organizations plan to march to Mendiola Bridge then to Malacannang to seek an audience with President Aquino regarding their predicament.

Eugenio, who is the president of the Philippine Judges Association, said they will still be meeting today about the action that they would take with regard the alleged budget cut.

Meantime, in a press briefing at the Palace, Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said there were no cuts in the budget for the SC and the lower courts, just like in the allocation for state universities and colleges. – With Aurea Calica, Sandy Araneta, Raymund Catindig, Jess Diaz (The Philippine Star)