SB to SC: Show how P1.7-B judiciary fund was spent

Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. is urging the Supreme Court to disclose to the public how it spent the P1.775-billion Judiciary Development Fund (JDF) amid moves from his colleagues to look into the disbursement of the discretionary allocation of the judicial branch.

Belmonte, vice chairman of the ruling Liberal Party, denied the revival of the House’s move to investigate the use of the JDF was in retaliation to an SC ruling declaring the P177-billion Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP) as illegal and unconstitutional.

He said the chamber could be forced to look into the JDF should the SC not make a detailed report on how it has been using the fund for the sake of transparency.

“The Supreme Court should voluntarily disclose its receipts and expenditures, and not wait for any congressional inquiry,” Belmonte said.

Iloilo Rep. Niel Tupas Jr., chairman of the House committee on justice, said his panel would start its inquiry into the JDF as soon as Congress resumes session on July 28.

“Actually, the timing (of the investigation) is good because we have rulings on PDAF and DAP, and no one is above the law,” Tupas told dzBB.

Tupas and Oriental Mindoro Rep. Reynaldo Umali in December last year pushed for a congressional scrutiny of the JDF after the SC ruled the Priority Development Assistance Fund or pork barrel fund of lawmakers as unconstitutional.

Umali at that time warned that SC magistrates would face impeachment if they would be found to have misused the JDF.

“The SC should make full accounting of the JDF fund. It’s now time for Congress to look into the fund. We have to revisit the law creating it with the objective of amending or repealing the law,” Tupas said, referring to Presidential Decree No. 1949.

Deputy Majority Leader and Citizens’ Battle Against Corruption party-list Rep. Sherwin Tugna backed the investigation into the use of the JDF, saying “all public funds should be transparently accounted for, whether JDF, DAP or PDAF.”

Quezon City Rep. Winston Castelo backed the planned probe but pushed for “prudence” since the move is widely seen by the public as getting back at the SC.

“The plan to push the Supreme Court to account for the JBC Fund could be misconstrued as a way to get back at the high court,” Castelo said. “The issue is timing.”