Senate committee discusses proposed Judicial Fiscal Autonomy Act

MANILA — The Senate Committee on Justice and Human Rights has discussed the proposed Fiscal Autonomy Act of the Judicial Branch of Government.

Under this proposed law, the judiciary's budgetary autonomy, as outlined in the constitution, would be strengthened. The judiciary's budget should also not be lower than the previous year's and should be released promptly.

Supreme Court Associate Justice Jose Midas Marquez attended the hearing, emphasizing the importance of the proposed bill and asserting that it would not overstep Congress's authority.

"No conflict at all. Congress still retains its power of the purse. At the end of the day, it will be Congress to decide what to give a co-equal branch of the government. Wala po kaming nakikitang conflict," he said.

However, the Department of Budget and Management argued that this type of law is unnecessary and that if it were passed, it might encourage other constitutional bodies such as the Commission on Elections (Comelec), Commission on Audit (COA), and Ombudsman to seek similar autonomy—a point contradicted by Senate leadership.

"As a co-equal branch of government let us grant them fiscal autonomy that we granted ourselves, the Senate and the House of Representatives and other executive offices where we can actually realign, they can create bodies, they can create agencies, that's the power of the executive," he said.

Zubiri also noted that the proposed bill isn't controversial, as they just want to give the same respect to their co-equal branch.

The committee has requested that government agencies submit their position papers regarding the proposed bill.