House panel terminates hearing for DOJ’s proposed 2023 budget

The House Committee on Appropriations on Wednesday terminated the hearing for the proposed P26.6 billion budget of the Department of Justice (DOJ) and its attached agencies for the year 2023.

Albay Representative Edcel Lagman initially moved to terminate the deliberations without any interpellation, saying members may ask their questions during the plenary deliberations.

However, the hearing was only terminated after ACT Teachers party-list Representative France Castro questioned and asked the DOJ for updates on the Bloody Sunday and extrajudicial killings.

The DOJ and its attached agencies asked for a P26.68 billion budget, lower than its 2022 budget under the General Appropriations Act of P25.24 billion.

DOJ Financial Service Director Maria Elisa Germar said the proposed budget of the DOJ is only 0.51% or half of the total national budget of P5.2 trillion.

Germar said 81.61% of the budget would go to personal services, including salaries and other compensation for employees, 16.85% will go to maintenance and operating expenses, and 1.54% will go to capital outlay. 

Meanwhile, according to Justice Undersecretary Brigido Dulay, three of the top revenue-generating agencies in the country are under the DOJ.

“These are the Land Registration Authority which contributed to the coffers of government approximately P8.6 billion, the Bureau of Immigration which contributed around P7.1 billion and the PCGG which contributed 245 million, the NBI, P683 million,” he said. — RSJ, GMA News