Court Administrator Raul Villanueva asked to reconsider adding worth ₱2.8 billion budget for the judiciary.
The ₱52.72-billion proposed budget of the judiciary for 2023 was scrutinized by the Senate Committee on Finance led by Senator Juan Edgardo M. Angara.
₱43.06 billion is allotted for the Supreme Court (SC) and lower courts, ₱6.60 billion for the Court of Appeals (CA), ₱2.10 billion for the Sandiganbayan, ₱795.22 million for the Court of Tax Appeals (CTA) and ₱167.31 million for the Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET) is under the proposed measure, Business Mirror reported.
Its 2023 proposed budget though ₱5.74 billion higher than its approved budget in 2022 of ₱46.98 billion is ₱21.46 billion lower than the judiciary’s original budget proposal submitted to the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) or ₱74.18 billion.
Raul Villanueva, the court administrator urged in his presentation that the Finance committee reconsider adding ₱2.8 billion to the planned ₱52.72 billion budget for the judiciary.
Of the ₱2.8 billion additional budget requested, ₱1.97 billion would go to the Supreme Court and lower courts, ₱567.62 million to the Court of Appeals, ₱239 million to the Sandiganbayan, ₱124.85 million to the Court of Trial Appeals, and none to the Presidential Electoral Tribunal.
Villanueva also asked the committee for amendments of the special provisions to the proposed budget pursuant to the National Expenditure Program (NEP).
He specifically mentioned Special Provision No. 2 (special allowances of justices and judges) and Special Provision No. 7 with respect to the maintenance and operations of lower courts.
“Again, we are asking as we have been asking previously, that these special provisions be amended,” Villanueva said.
Villanueva pointed out that the judiciary has constantly asked Congress to take Special Provision 2 into consideration, and that request has always been granted, since 2013 up to the 2022 General Appropriations Act (Republic Act No. 11639).
Special Provision 2 of the NEP states:
“The special allowance of justices, judges and all other positions in the judiciary with equivalent rank, which have already been fully integrated into their salaries shall cease to be granted.”
It further states that the amount of P697.92 million corresponding to the special allowance for the judiciary component of their salaries shall be deposited with the National Treasury as income of the General Fund.
“Considering that the special allowance of justices, judges, and all other positions in the judiciary with an equivalent rake of justices of the Court of Appeals and judges of the Regional Trial Court under RA 9227, has already been fully integrated into their salaries as of June 1, 2012, the amount of ₱697.93 million corresponding to the Special Allowance for the judiciary component of their salaries shall be deposited with the National Treasury as income of the General Fund,” Villanueva said in provision.
“Records would show the executive department has for many years been giving this particular allowance for the members of the judiciary,” Villanueva said.
He added that the judiciary has asked that Special Provision No. 7 of the National Expenditure Program, which addresses maintenance and other operational costs of subordinate courts, be changed to remove, among other things, the particular sum that would be allocated to various courts around the country.
As of December 31, 2021, the judiciary's budget utilization was almost 100 percent, and for the 2022 budget, it was about 50 percent, Villanueva noted.
Tags: #Senators, #2023 budget