Miriam suggests dialog between executive, judiciary on budget row

A senator and former judge on Sunday urged Malacañang to initiate “lower-level" talks with the Supreme Court to iron out their row over some P4.97 billion of the judiciary's budget for unfilled positions. Sen. Miriam Santiago, who said the talks could be held among the financial officials of the two branches, pointed out a dialogue would be “much more productive" than a verbal exchange. “It would be much more productive. And the Chief Justice would agree to that. Sana executive branch [ang mag-initiate] dahil kung ang nag-initiate ang Korte Suprema, it would immediately be attacked as favor-seeking o kaya nagsisipsip sa executive branch," she said in an interview on dzBB radio. Besides, she said the high court is considered a non-political branch and cannot afford to be perceived as political. Santiago also noted the judiciary, particularly the Supreme Court, enjoys fiscal autonomy under the 1987 Constitution. “If [the Supreme Court] reaches out to the political branches there is a suspicion meron siyang sariling agenda," she said. Earlier, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) agreed to permit the judiciary to manage the allocation for unfilled positions, but subject to quarterly reporting. Courtesy Santiago suggested that the DBM approach the high court and initiate a meeting on how to iron out the problem. “Dapat mangyari sana iyan kung kurtisiya man lang ang DBM, siya kusa lalapit sa Korte Suprema at magsabi pwede natin maupuan ito at pagusapan nang buong paggalang ang paggastos ng pera ng Korte Suprema. Hindi naman sa tsine-check namin kayo dahil may fiscal autonomy kayo kundi gumagawa kami ng policy para sa lahat ng gobyerno pero may special provision sa ating Saligang Batas, may fiscal autonomy kayo kaya sana makipagtulungan tayo para di masabi nagaabuso ang sc pero pinapabayaan namin," she said. She said such a meeting need not be a summit of top officials but just between their “finance people." “Hindi kailangan ng summit meeting ... kundi finance people nila, pwede at that level," she said. On the other hand, Santiago advised Malacañang’s spokespersons to be more courteous in criticizing the Supreme Court, lest they drag their principal – President Benigno Aquino III – into the mess. No vitriol She said that while the high court can be criticized, such criticisms “cannot be a brutal attack on the integrity of the Supreme Court justices." “There should be no use of vitriol, yung nakakalason talagang pagsasalita tungkol sa Korte Suprema. There should be a civilized manifestation of what are perceived to be irregularities," she said. She said that while law professors and students criticize the high court’s decisions, they “do so in the spirit of academic freedom." Closed issue But as far as Malacañang is concerned, the issue over the judicial budget is already a closed issue. In an interview by Radyo ng Bayan on Sunday, deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said Malacañang has always been careful about spending the taxpayers’ money and it is the same policy that guided the executive branch in drafting the proposed budget for next year that was submitted to Congress three months ago. “We’ve always stated that to us it (budget) is a closed issue. Katulad ng sinabi ni [Budget) Secretary Butch Abad, nagulat po tayo kung bakit naging ganoon ang pahayag ni Chief Justice [Renato] Corona nitong nakaraang linggo because we’ve already settled the matter of the budget," she said. She said the allocations for the unfilled positions would be included in the Miscellaneous Personnel Benefits Fund, which would be released to them, provided that they meet certain requirements like submitting a quarterly report. “We have been very careful in the things that the executive does and sa atin naman po really is pinag-iingatan po natin iyung pera ng taumbayan at gusto lang po natin maipakita, kahit po doon sa mga ibang kawani at mga kasama natin, na dito po napupunta iyung pera," she added. Meanwhile, Santiago said there is little chance of the country falling into a constitutional crisis at this time. “A constitutional crisis is very far off in the horizon," she said. — KBK, GMA News