Citizens groups seek to block 300% hike in court filing fees

The Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC) and other civil society groups on Monday asked Chief Justice Artemio Panganiban to stop the implementation of a 300 percent increase in court filing fees. In a letter to Panganiban, VACC chairman Dante Jimenez, Fr. Jose Dizon of Kairos Philippines, Association of Concerned Teachers (ACT) president Antonio Tinio, and Council for Philippine Affairs (COPA) president Pastor “Boy" Saycon, asked the head of the Supreme Court to communicate with Congress for the amendment of Republic Act 9227. RA 9227 authorizes the increase in filing fees and grants additional compensation in the form of special allotments for positions in the judiciary with the equivalent rank of Justice of the Court of Appeals (CA) and Judges of the Regional Trial Court (RTC). “We, victims, have been suffering enough hardships in pursuing our cases in court. Our situation has been aggravated with this oppressive law," Jimenez said. The fund, which will be generated from the increase of fees, will go the additional compensation of judges. The VACC chairman said victims of heinous crimes in the country have already suffered much from losing their relatives and their cases remain unresolved because of the slow pace of justice in the country. Dizon, Tinio and Saycon, for their part, said RA 9227 “makes the people’s access to the courts too expensive and prohibitive. It makes the courts beyond the reach of our people." “We recognize the purpose sought to be achieved by the enactment of RA 9227 to augment and double the compensation of the members of the Judiciary although it excluded the court staff," they said. Jimenez said the fund for the increase of the salaries of the judges should come from the taxes paid by the people and not the money directly coming from those who seek justice in courts. “The money for their increased salaries should come from our taxes," Jimenez said. Jimenez also chided the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) for not actively questioning the increase in court filing fees. “We can not understand why the IBP has simply stood by and allowed the law to flourish despite so much hardships it is causing the public particularly victims and complainants. We hope it is not politics again at work," Jimenez said. -GMANews.TV