Gov't agrees to increase judiciary budget for '09

MANILA, Philippines - Leaders from the three branches of government on Thursday agreed to increase to at least one percent the judiciary’s share of the national budget for the year 2009. The agreement was reached during the second Judicial, Executive, and Legislative Advisory Consultative Council (Jelacc) meeting held at the Supreme Court En Banc Conference Room in the Supreme Court building in Manila. The pending increase in the judiciary’s budget is expected to help in the creation of 533 positions in the lower courts, as well as to finance the repair and maintenance of the Halls of Justice (HOJ) and provision for supplies and materials especially for the lower courts. “For 2009, we have been assured by the legislative and executive departments that the judiciary will be receiving more than one percent,” lawyer Jose Midas Marquez, the spokesperson of the Supreme Court, said in a press briefing. “Whatever the judiciary needs, as long as we will be able to justify it, the executive and legislative branches will be willing to incorporate it in the national budget,” he added. He said that a portion of the high court’s allocations will be reserved for the computerization of various courts nationwide. Likewise, the budget increase will boost the implementation of the Court’s ongoing Action Program for Judicial Reform (APJR) Projects such as the Justice on Wheels (JOW) Project and the Case Administration Management Information System (CAMIS). JOW is aimed at improving access to justice, as well as encouraging the speedy disposition of cases through the use of alternative means of dispute resolution and providing affordable judicial services. CAMIS, on the other hand, is the automation of receiving, logging and monitoring of statistical reports which results in the creation of an electronic database. The Jelacc is chaired by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo with Vice President Noli L. De Castro, Senate President Manuel B. Villar Jr, House Speaker Prospero C. Nograles, Chief Justice Puno, Executive Secretary Eduardo R. Ermita, Sen. Francis N. Pangilinan, Rep. Arthur D. Defensor Jr, and SC Justice Adolfo S. Azcuna as members. - GMANews.TV