Congress can reform JDF – Belmonte

MANILA, Philippines - Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. has supported the assertion of his colleagues that Congress can amend the law creating the Judiciary Development Fund (JDF) to introduce reforms in its use by the Supreme Court (SC).

“Yes, we in Congress have the right to review it. We can even put restrictions,” he said in a television interview.

The SC has opposed moves in the House of Representatives to inquire into the JDF, which congressmen have labeled as the high court’s pork barrel. The fund is under the sole discretion of the chief justice.

There are two pending bills that seek to remove such discretion – transfer the fund to the national treasury and let Congress appropriate the money to where it is now being used.

However, unlike other collections that go to the treasury, not a single cent of the JDF would go to other agencies. It would all continue to be allocated to the judiciary, including courthouses, equipment and facilities.

SC officers have claimed that such reforms would contravene the judiciary’s fiscal autonomy and independence, which the Constitution guarantees.

The House committee on justice, chaired by Iloilo Rep. Niel Tupas Jr., will resume its JDF inquiry after disposing of the three pending impeachment complaints against President Aquino.

Tupas and his senior vice chairman, Ilocos Norte Rep. Rodolfo Fariñas, have vowed to overhaul the SC fund. They are the authors of the two bills seeking reforms in the use of the JDF.

As for the appeal of Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno for Congress to give additional funds to the judiciary, Belmonte was non-committal.

President Aquino has increased his proposed funding for the judiciary for next year by more than P900 million, even if he has been criticizing the SC decision on his controversial Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP).

Belmonte said the problem with increasing the budget for the SC and other courts for a particular year is that the increased level would have to be automatically given in the succeeding year.

“The Constitution prescribes that we cannot reduce the budget of the judiciary,” he said.

Belmonte said funds, if included in the judiciary outlay, would have to be automatically given in the succeeding year even if the purpose for which the money was appropriated has been accomplished.

He pointed out that this was the reason why Congress included funding for courthouses in the budget of the Department of Justice.

The speaker noted that some local government units extend financial assistance in the construction of halls of justice.

However, he said the legislature would have to be careful in including funds for court facilities in the budget of the DOJ or any executive agency because of the SC ruling on DAP.

The ruling prohibits “cross-border” fund transfers from one branch of the government to another.

It would also disallow LGU assistance, including allowances for judges, according to congressmen who have been local officials.

Regional trial court and metropolitan trial court judges reportedly receive between P30,000 to P50,000 a month in additional allowances from LGUs, on top of what they are getting from the JDF.

To avoid going against the SC prohibition against cross-border fund transfers, Belmonte said what Congress could do in the case of court buildings would be to pass a separate law providing funds for such facilities.

He shared some of Aquino’s and his colleagues’ criticisms on the DAP ruling.

“Actually, the prohibited practices in DAP have been there since time immemorial. There were actually good things and much has been accomplished through DAP,” he said.

Belmonte cited the ruling on government savings, which the SC said should be declared only in November and December.

“At that point, what can you do with the money? Nothing. I was vice chairman of the House appropriations committee during the FVR (Ramos) presidency. At that time, they required agencies at the start of the year to withhold a portion of their funds as savings,” he said.

‘No request to fund eCourts’

The SC did not make any request to fund its electronic courts (eCourts) this year and in 2015 so the Department of Budget and Management was not able to allocate money for the project, Malacañang clarified yesterday.

Earlier, Sereno said the executive department did not give the high court any budget for the project.

Presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said the executive branch supported the SC’s information technology project dubbed Enterprise Information Systems Plan (EISP).

The EISP, a five-year project worth P774.6 million that started in 2010, aims to digitize SC processes to speed up litigation of cases, according to Valte. – With Aurea Calica