Local gov’ts can give allowances to judges

The Supreme Court has upheld the power of a municipality to grant an allowance to a trial court judge, contrary to a decision by the Commission on Audit (COA).

In a 30-page unanimous decision penned by Justice Renato Corona, the High Court en banc set aside the Sept. 14, 1999 ruling of the COA that stopped the municipal government of Naujan, Oriental Mindoro from granting a P1,600 monthly allowance to Judge Tomas Leynes, now assigned to the Regional Trial Court of Calapan City.

Leynes, former presiding judge of the Municipal Trial Court of Naujan, had been receiving an allowance from the municipal government since 1984, apart from his salary and representation and transportation allowance (RATA) from the Supreme Court, until COA disallowed it.

The Supreme Court, however, ruled that COA erred in disallowing Leynes’ monthly allowance from the Naujan municipal government on the basis of the National Compensation Circular (NCC) No. 67 and Local Budget Circular No. 53 of the Department of Budget and Management, and Republic Act 7645 (General Appropriations Act of 1993).

The Supreme Court said the two circulars and RA 7645 did not repeal, modify or amend Section 447(a) (1) (xi) of Republic Act 7160 or the Local Government Code, which empowers local government units to "enact ordinances, approve resolutions and appropriate funds" for their general welfare and their constituents’.