KIKO APPEALS TO SC & PALACE: SUPPORT JELACC
"Increase budgetary support for the Judiciary!"

Senate Majority Leader Kiko Pangilinan today appealed to Malacanang and the Supreme Court to support the creation of a Joint Judiciary Executive Legislative Advisory and Consultative Council (JELACC) to strengthen the judiciary and push for its modernization through fiscal support.

"All the stakeholders of the JELACC have already agreed in concept to this ad hoc advisory and consultative body. We are thus calling on Malacanang to convene all the concerned parties the soonest time possible, as now more than ever is there a need to empower the judiciary in the face of corruption issues and continued extra-judicial killings," Kiko said.

Senator Kiko first pushed for the JELACC during the Supreme Court's Summit on Extra-judicial Killings in July. He likewise proposed this during the Legislative and Executive Development Advisory Council meeting last August, and was able to get President Arroyo, Senate President Villar and House Speaker De Venecia's commitment. Supreme Court Chief Justice Artemio Panganiban and other SC Justices were also consulted regarding the proposal and expressed their support.

"If we think about it, the three co-equal branches of government are not so equal at all as the Judiciary depends on the Legislative and the Executive for the approval of its budget allocation and the appointment of justices, judges and other officials of the Judicial branch are subject to Malacanang's consent. JELACC will be a logical forum for the Judiciary to air its needs and requirements, thereby allowing the Executive and Legislative see the broader picture."

Kiko is also pushing to raise the judiciary's share in the budget pie, because "as a co-equal branch, it definitely deserves more than .8 percent of the entire national budget." At P8.4 billion, the proposed 2008 budget of the entire Judiciary is just about the same as the budget of the Department of Justice (DoJ).

"The JELACC will explore the necessary budgetary support for filling the vacancy in our courts, the creation of more courts, and the promotion of a strategic response to strengthening the rule of law. I am aware that there may be issues raised about the independence of the Judiciary vis-?vis the other branches of government if it participates in the said advisory council. But the ad hoc nature of the council, whose purpose is to meet a short-term need, may be a valid and justifiable ground for the creation of the council. I would liken the participation of the Judiciary in the advisory council to its participation in congressional budget hearings wherein the Judiciary's independence is neither compromised nor diminished," Kiko asserted.