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MANILA, Philippines - Rep. Elpidio Barzaga Jr. of Dasmariñas City in Cavite warned Supreme Court (SC) justices yesterday that misuse of the Judiciary Development Fund (JDF) is an impeachable offense.
“It is graft and corruption, one of the grounds for impeachment,” Barzaga said.
He said if congressmen find evidence of misuse and abuse in their planned scrutiny of the JDF and the Special Allowances for Judges (SAJ) fund, they would not hesitate to initiate impeachment proceedings against any justice involved.
He questioned the use by the SC of 20 percent of the JDF, which the law devotes to court facilities and equipment. The 80 percent goes to allowances and other personnel benefits.
In a statement, the high court reported that as of June 30, the 20 percent portion of the fund had an accumulated balance of more than P1.3 billion. Of that amount, the SC has allocated P732.5 million for the Cebu and Cagayan de Oro buildings of the Court of Appeals and consultancy services for the SC’s electrical system.
The late President Ferdinand Marcos created the JDF under Presidential Decree 1949.
Barzaga said Section 1 of PD 1949 provides that the money is to be used for facilities and equipment in areas where court fees accruing to the fund were collected.
He said the high court’s decision to allocate more than P700 million for buildings in Cebu and Cagayan de Oro may not be in accord with the JDF law.
“That gargantuan amount did not come from court fees collected in those areas and cannot therefore be used for facilities there,” he said.
He urged the highest tribunal to comply with the mandate of the Marcos decree creating the JDF, in the same manner that it has required Malacañang to follow another Marcos decree establishing the Malampaya Fund by banning its use for non-energy related projects.
“While it is admitted that the SC is the final interpreter of the law, it cannot interpret it in such a manner that it will suit its whim,” he said.
The House committee on justice plans to hold public hearings on the SC’s special funds when Congress reconvenes next month after its month-long Christmas recess.
Aside from the justice committee, the Senate finance committee and the House appropriations committee intend to examine how the highest court is using its appropriations and off-budget accounts like the JDF and SAJ Fund.
The 2014 budget law requires the Supreme Court to submit quarterly and annual financial and accomplishment reports to the finance and appropriations committees, Department of Budget and Management and Commission on Audit.
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