THE good news is that Cebu City judges and court employees will continue to receive monthly allowances from the Cebu city government.
The bad news is that a proposed increase by Mayor Michael Rama was shut down by the City Council.
The 2014 annual budget approved by the local legislature yesterday includes an P11.7 million outlay as “aid to the judiciary” next year.
This means that Court of Appeals justices will continue to receive P25,000 a month from the city while Regional Trial Court judges will get P20,0000 each.
Judges in the Municipal Trial Court in Cities will continue to receive P15,000 each while PHILJA coordinators will get P20,000 each as allowances.
Clerks of courts and court social workers will continue to receive P4,000 each month.
Judges and court personnel are national government workers paid by the Department of Justice (DOJ) but localities that can afford to give more can release an allowance depending on available funds.
Mayor Rama proposed a P25 million outlay for his 2014 executive budget to increase allowances of judges to P45,000 each.
Ecology lawyer Gloria Estenzo-Ramos wrote city officials last Dec. 9 to express her disapproval of the city’s practice of giving allowances to the judiciary.
Her letter was received by the City Council secretariat on December 10 and was included in the agenda of yesterday’s council session.
Ramos said the budget for allowances would be better used for the city’s marginalized members like malnourished children, out-of-school youth and indigent families displaced by floods and fires.
“Without going into the constitutional and ethical implications of the grant, Court of Appeals justices and judges already receive substantial salaries and emoluments, and so do prosecutors, unlike in the past,” Ramos said.
She noted that the city appropriated P8 million a few years ago to buy equipment to monitor air and water quality, but the equipment has not been purchased.
Ramos asked the city to stop doling out allowances.” The independence and the public perception of independence of the judiciary and the prosecutorial arm of government are paramount if our institutions are to be strengthened and the fading trust of our people in government is to be restored,” she wrote.
She said receiving aid from the city would unnecessarily drag judges and prosecutors into controversies. This includes competing with priorities for funds spent on basic services for Cebuanos.
“I hope this letter will trigger a re-examination and reconsideration not just by the LGUs but by the judiciary and the DOJ,” she added.