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House body to invite anew Chief Justice Sereno on JDF issue
By Sammy F. Martin

MANILA, Aug. 5 (PNA) -- The House of Representatives Committee on Justice on Tuesday said it intends to invite again Supreme Court (SC) Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno or her official representative in its next hearing to shed light on the Judiciary Development Fund (JDF).

Iloilo Rep. Neil Tupas Jr., chairman of the committee, said they just want to clarify some provisions under JDF which is directly controlled by the Chief Justice.

"In my four years as committee chairman, this was the first time that the Supreme Court ignored an invitation from the committee," Tupas told reporters in an interview after the hearing.

"We hope that the Supreme Court will understand that we are only doing our job, being elected by the people, and in the name of public accountability and transparency, no one should be untouchable."

Aside from Sereno, the committee invited her Deputy Court Administrator Raul Villanueva and SC Fiscal Management and Budget Office head Atty. Corazon Ferrer-Flores.

Tupas said they granted the request of Sereno that she be given more time to consult with other justices on the matter.

"We gave them two weeks to prepare. We are still hoping that she will attend. We will invite her again. We will have her in another hearing," he noted.

Tupas and Ilocos Norte Rep. Rodolfo Fariñas filed House Bill 4738 and HB 4690, respectively, to repeal, replace and reform the JDF by compelling the SC justices to open their "pork barrel," stressing the constitutional grant of fiscal autonomy cannot and should not be used to frustrate the overriding constitutional principles of transparency, accountability and good governance.

For his part, Oriental Mindoro Rep. Reynaldo Umali said the Chief Justice should have attended the hearing since she has the sole authority to JDF.

Under PD 1949, the law that creates the JDF, the exclusive power and duty to approve and authorize disbursements and expenditures of the JDF is vested in the Chief Justice of the SC.

In that sense alone, the JDF is considered discretionary funds as the same is administered by a particular public official and disbursed for public purpose.

Sereno has rejected the invitation of the Lower House to attend a congressional inquiry Tuesday on the Judiciary Development Fund.

In a letter sent to Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. dated August 4, 2014, the Chief Justice said that, "asking the head of a co-equal branch of government to provide her views, comments, and recommendations on the two bills at this stage might be premature and considering the venue at which it is being proposed to be heard, inappropriate."

"My view of the manner, timing, and context in which a committee of the House is proposing to inquire into the Judiciary Development Fund as indicated in its letter, is that they leave much to be desired, and at this point, do not seem to be fully cognizant of the kind of healthy relationship that should exist between, on the one hand, the House of Representatives, and on the other, the Supreme Court," said Sereno in her letter.

Meanwhile, the committee also directed the Commission on Audit (COA) to conduct a special audit on the P1.7-billion JDF, which corresponds as the Court’s “pork barrel.”

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