Sen. Tulfo to work for P55-B budget for the judiciary for 2023
Finance

Sen. Tulfo to work for P55-B budget for the judiciary for 2023

Jun 6, 2022, 8:43 AM
Rose De La Cruz

Rose De La Cruz

Writer/Columnist

Newbie Senator Rafael Tulfo wants to give the judiciary a budget of P50 billion for 2023 and to have this government branch fill up vacant positions for faster case disposition.

Senator-elect Rafael Tulfo said he would try to convince his colleagues in the 19th Congress to give the Supreme Court at least P55 billion budget for 2023, which is closer to its original budget proposal.

Though Tulfo has been elected as the new chairman of the committee on energy (now held by Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian) and the committee on OFWs (which has yet to be created in the next Congress) while the committee of justice has been given to comebacking Sen. Chiz Escudero.

Tulfo said the courts are in urgent need of improvement in their physical facilities, technologies, and number of personnel in actual positions filled.

He noted that for 2022, “the Supreme Court and the Lower Courts have a budget of P39.7 billion. This does not yet include the allocations for the Court of Appeals, Court of Tax Appeals, the Sandiganbayan, and the Presidential Electoral Tribunal.”

He recalled that during the budget formulation process in 2021 prior to the budget submission to Congress, the Supreme Court actually proposed P67.28 billion but the DBM slashed this down to P44.98 billion because of DBM budget ceiling parameters. Later, Congress increased the figure to P45.31 billion.

“My current thinking on this matter is this: When the Judiciary, co-equal branch of government, asks for P67.28 billion, the DBM should give the Judiciary the benefit of the doubt, cast aside its budget ceiling formula, and then sit down with the Judiciary and Congress to work on a middle ground,” Tulfo said.
“Slashing the original budget request by P22.3 billion does not only seem disrespectful, but there is inevitable denial of public service to Filipino citizens which is the greater injustice,” he added.

Tulfo said his

“personal working goal is to push for an increase of at least P6.25 billion so that the first-level courts, second-level courts, and Supreme Court will have P46 billion in 2023 because they are the courts most in need of added resources.”

He noted that the first-level courts and second-level courts, also known as the municipal trial courts, municipal circuit trial courts, and metropolitan trial courts are where most of the pending cases are.

“In the 2020 annual report of the Supreme Court, the RTCs had 635,690 total cases and 215,413 of them were disposed of, for a disposition rate of 34 percent. In the first-level courts, there were 171,382 pending cases, 208,867 case inflow, and 191,597 in decided and archived cases,” Tulfo cited.
“For the appellate courts and PET, a ballpark figure of P9 billion I think would be fair considering the high importance of their pending cases and to help expedite the disposition of those cases because justice delayed is justice denied,” he added.

Tulfo said:

“If I am able to convince my colleagues in the 19th Congress, my work-in-progress plan would give the Supreme Court at least P55 billion in 2023 which is much closer to what they asked for in their original budget proposal for 2022.”
“For the capital outlay needs for the long-term, I will ask the Department of Finance to study the issuance of at least P100 billion in bonds so that the Judiciary will have an additional P20 billion per year in five years for systemic infrastructure,” Tulfo revealed.
“To anticipate these future needs, I will suggest to the Supreme Court that it also submit to Congress a multi-year plan that includes a request to Congress to give the Supreme Court an authorization for continuing capital outlay for infrastructure, digitalization, computerization, and manpower upgrading,” Tulfo said.

He also said he will work with the Supreme Court and the Court Administrator. “I will ask them to set ambitious but doable targets on disposition of cases, reduction of caseload by at least 30% to 40%, creation of many more new regional trial courts and first-level courts, filling up of vacant plantilla positions, and the release from detention of tens of thousands of detainees waiting for final decision on their pending cases,” the senator-elect said.

“I am open to pushing for a bill that will grant to the Supreme Court the authority delegated from Congress to create new courts subject to guidelines and parameters set by Congress. I will also ask the Supreme Court to send to Congress their ideas on how much the salaries and benefits of their personnel should be,” he also said.

Tulfo is also

“open to finding ways to improve the financial plight of their personnel so that the temptation of corruption is reduced to as near to zero. Perhaps, one solution is to allow the SC to set salaries for some or all judiciary personnel at rates higher than the rates set in the salary standardization law. This should be accompanied by a fair pension fund system and hazard pay.”

According to the courts’ 2022 staffing summary data, they have 12,333 unfilled positions, 26,041 filled positions, and 38,374 authorized positions.

“I would like to see these unfilled positions reduced by 3,000 per year over the next four years. This means I hope to see a massive hiring effort from the SC and the lower courts. I also would like to see in place an effective internship program for law school students before they graduate and after they graduate,” Tulfo said.

Digitalization, computerization

“I am also open to working with the Supreme Court and the Court Administrator on how to increase the efficiency of its work processes through digitization, computerization, and faster communication, while still maintaining proper administration of justice. This is necessary and urgent so that the innocent and the reformable detainees can be released sooner rather than later by the tens of thousands,” Tulfo disclosed.

He said he is aware that a digitization and computerization process has been underway in the Judiciary. Supporting this laudable effort, Tulfo sees the need to invest in more physical facilities at the courts and at the detention facilities nationwide.

Tulfo said,

“more online or video conferencing are needed not just at the courthouses or halls of justice, but also at the jails at the municipal, city, and provincial levels. Especially at the jails where there is high congestion, there should be a room or hall where several court hearings can be simultaneously conducted. Every detention facility should have a venue for online court hearings. There should be more “courts on wheels” which are buses configured for the conduct of remote hearings. These courts on wheels would be for the remote places where physical facilities are not available because the courts on wheels would be the better, cost-efficient option.”

“There is also the matter of switching faster from a paper-based process to a fully-digitized system. Old court documents should be digitized and stored in a secure digital database while the paper documents can be stored in regional warehouses. Incoming new documents should be digitized outright. I look forward to seeing the proposed solution of the Supreme Court to this problem,” he also said.

Katarungang pambarangay

The newbie senator said he also wants to expand the jurisdiction of the Barangay Justice System or Katarungang Pambarangay, “so that the minor cases filed with and pending at the regional and first level courts can be adjudicated at the barangay level and appealable to the first-level courts.”

“For example, the courts have been swamped with cases on the violation of pandemic community quarantine protocols and ordinances. There are also thousands of small claims cases now because many were unable to pay their debts due to pandemic loss of income,” Tulfo said.

“This will need amendments to the Judiciary Reorganization Act and to the Local Government Code. I will welcome suggestions and draft legislation from the Supreme Court, the Court Administrator, the Department of Justice, Department of Interior and Local Government, and the various leagues of governors, mayors, councilors, andbarangays,” Tulfo explained.

He said expanding the jurisdiction of the Katarungang Pambarangay will make justice “more accessible, swift, and decongest the caseload of the prosecutors and judges.”

“Perhaps one way to enable the barangays to manage and dispose of their caseload is to authorize senior law school students to represent clients at the Katarungang Pambarangay hearings. Expanded jurisdiction of the Katarungang Pambarangay will increase the relevance of the legal aid services of churches, NGOs, outreach offices of law schools, and pro bono services of lawyers,” Tulfo also said.

Tags: #SC, #Sen.Tulfo, #judiciaryvacancies, #justice


We take a stand
OpinYon News logo

Designed and developed by Simmer Studios.

© 2024 OpinYon News. All rights reserved.