The judiciary branch of government is requesting an additional fund of nearly Php 7 billion after the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) approved only Php 38.77 billion out of its proposed Php 47.99 billion budget for 2021.
Court Administrator Midas Marquez said the increase will be used to provide additional salaries to its employees and improve the connectivity and digitalization of courts.
The judiciary expressed confidence that the improvement in the electronic courts system which also covers electronic filing of proceedings and conduct of virtual hearings will expedite court transactions next year.
“Almost 100,000 videoconferencing hearings have a success rate of 87% lang po (only). Ibig sabihin po noon meron po tayong 13% na unsuccessful kasi interconnectivity problems (This means that 13% are unsuccessful due to interconnectivity problems),” Marquez explained.
Rep. Rufus Rodriguez supported the appeal of the judiciary, citing the smaller appropriation for this government branch from the country’s GDP compared to other neighboring Asian countries.
Meanwhile, Rep. Ferdinand Gaite raised the concern on the high vacancy rate in courts that could affect judicial operations. Marquez responded that hiring in courts is not easy due to the level of qualifications and guidelines set by the CSC. – Report from Naomi Tiburcio
