The Senate will support the budgetary requirements of the judiciary for next year, consistent to what the Upper Chamber has been doing in previous years, Sen. Sonny Angara said.
Angara, who chairs the Senate Committee on Finance, made this assurance during the hearing on the proposed 2023 budget of the judiciary on Monday, September 19.
“The judiciary has always enjoyed the support of the Senate and we will continue to prioritize the requirements of the judiciary as a co-equal branch of government and in recognition of the critical role performed by the courts in our society,” Angara said.
The judiciary cluster has requested a total of P74.18-billion to cover for the requirements of the Supreme Court, the lower courts, the Court of Appeals, Sandiganbayan, Court of Tax Appeals and the Presidential Electoral Tribunal.
During the hearing Court Administrator Raul Villanueva told the finance panel that out of the P74.18-billion proposed by the judiciary, only P52.72-billion was approved by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) and included in the proposed 2023 National Expenditure Program (NEP).
Villanueva said the variance of P21.46-billion could affect the personnel services or the adjustments in the salaries of the court personnel, as well as the creation of new positions that are badly needed by the different courts.
Nevertheless, Angara said, the Senate is committed to increase the budgets of the judiciary branch which it has consistently done since 2019, when he took over as finance committee chair.
In 2019, the Senate augmented the budget of the judiciary by P2.019-billion. The following year, an increase of P2.5-billion was granted. For 2021, the senator said the Senate raised the budget of the judiciary by P1.7-billion and for this year, a total of P2.044-billion was added.
“It is important that we continuously find ways to improve our justice system, particularly in the resolution of cases,” Angara stressed.
Resource persons who attended the budget hearing—including Sandiganbayan Presiding Justice Amparo Cabotaje-Tang, and Court of Tax Appeals Presiding Justice Roman del Rosario—thanked the Angara panel for consistently supporting and increasing their budget since 2019.
De Rosario recalled that in the past year, the budget that they requested from the DBM was cut substantially “but because of the support of the Senate, we practically were able to get the entire amount that we requested.”
Aside from interventions in their annual budgets, Angara has also introduced legislation to ensure the swift delivery of justice in the country, such as the bill that sought the creation of judges-at-large through Republic Act 11459.
RA 11459 specifically mandates the creation of judges-at-large posts for the regional and municipal trial courts in order to decongest the courts of its dockets.
Senate Minority Leader Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III also pledged his support to helping increase the budget of the judiciary.
Pimentel said he believes granting a higher budget to the judiciary cluster would lead to the faster resolution of cases and in improving the overall image of the Philippine justice system.