MANILA: 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. 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 Benigno 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 P900m, even if he has been criticising the SC decision on his controversial Disbursement Acceleration Programme. 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 Philippine star
