Members of the House of Representatives were united in pushing for an increase in the 2022 budget of the judiciary, after the executive department slashed its allocation.

Bayan Muna Party List Representative Carlos Zarate maintained on Tuesday, September 28, that the budget cut violates the 1987 Constitution.

"The reduction of the budget of the Supreme Court as an independent, co-equal in fact, branch of the government is not in accordance with what is laid down in our Constitution," Zarate said in his interpellation of the judiciary budget in plenary.

From this year's budget of P45.31 billion, the National Expenditure Program (NEP) submitted by the executive department to Congress proposed a P44.98-billion budget for the whole of judiciary for 2022.

Of this amount, the Supreme Court's proposed 2022 budget is P36.76 billion, which is lower than the court's 2021 budget of P39.77 billion.

Under Article 8 of the Constitution, the judicial department must not be given a budget lower than what it was given the previous year.

Zarate asked his colleagues to restore, if not increase, the judiciary budget.

Davao de Oro 2nd District Representative Ruwel Gonzaga agreed with Zarate.

"Under our Constitution, the previous budget of the judiciary should not be decreased. With what happened now, for the 2022 budget, it is very clear that there is really a decrease," said Gonzaga, who was sponsoring the judiciary's budget as one of the vice chairpersons of the House appropriations committee.

Gonzaga also recalled that House members, during their budget briefings, supported the appeal of judiciary officials for a P7.47-billion increase in their 2022 budget.

"We are of the principle that we have to accommodate the increase of the judiciary as not to violate the fundamental law of the land, the Constitution," Gonzaga assured Zarate.

The Lower House has terminated the debates for the judiciary's proposed 2022 budget.