Judiciary in black in Tacloban City, Leyte

Judiciary in black  | Leyte Samar Daily Express

Jan. 7, 2011
Judiciary in black

http://leytesamardaily.net/2010/12/judiciary-in-black/



It is black for mourning or utter protest. From this day on, taxpayers and all other persons who have transactions to make or hearings to attend in courts across the country will be seeing employees in black clothes on specific dates.

In Tacloban City, per memorandum issued by the Regional Trial Court Executive Judge and Branch 7 Presiding Judge Crisologo Bitas, all RTC employees as well as all employees in Bulwagan ng Katarungan are required to wear black dresses, shirts and pants during the flag ceremonies on Mondays and Fridays. This is in protest to the cut in the budget of the judiciary and other branches of government next year. The judge, a member of the Philippine Judges Association, will still nevertheless conduct hearing of cases in his court.

To refresh the readers’ memory, way back in September this year, members of the judiciary have sounded an alarm of conducting the so-called judicial revolt to dramatize their dissent to the big cut made by the executive branch in the budget proposed by the judiciary for next year. Although this alarm was broached to the press by Supreme Court Spokesman and Court Administrator Jose Midas Marquez, the High Court declared that it has nothing to do with this protest gesture in the lower courts this time.

Other than the PJA, the Metropolitan and City Judges of the Philippines and Trial Judges’ Association of the Philippines, Inc. are reported to be staging this same silent protest. They are into this to make the public more aware of the situation that the lower courts are in and to appeal for legislators to allocate funds for the judges’ salary increase and differentials since 2007. They claimed that the lack of funds disfigured the salary scales in that lawyer clerks of courts receive higher basic pay than judges.

Justices and judges should have been enjoying a hundred percent increase in the basic salary but could not avail the same due to the constant paucity in the budget given to the judiciary. Other than that, laws mandating the creation of additional salas in courts around the country are not implemented for the same reason. This leads to the clogging up of cases in court dockets which in turn causes the over-congestion of jails with detention prisoners.

Philippine Online Chronicles reported, “The Judiciary, despite being a co-equal branch with the Legislative and Executive arms of the Philippine government, will be receiving less than 1 percent if the budget, with P14 billion.” It added, “In 2007, the judiciary got only 0.76 percent of the national budget; in 2008, 0.88 percent; in 2009, 0.94 percent; and in 2010, 0.87 percent. For 2011, the judiciary will stand to receive a measly 0.78 percent of the national budget,” quoting SC administrator Marquez.

Whether this silent protest will gain ground or achieve its purpose is a matter that the Filipino citizenry will know when the bicameral conference committee comes up with the final budget for the judiciary which will be carried in the General Appropriations Act of 2011. In the meantime, the judiciary will have to find means to raise the revenue that will fund the judiciary’s programs and projects not given a share in the budget pie.

By: Eileen Nazareno-Ballesteros