Marquez, in a statement, also criticized Palace spokesmen for speaking “out of turn” on issues involving the budget of the judiciary and the constitutional commissions.
He said Palace Spokesmen Edwin Lacierda and Abigail Valte “should learn as well a lesson or two in inter-branch comity and courtesy.”
Marquez also expressed doubts that the refusal of President Aquino to sit down with the legislative and the judiciary to settle the budget dispute was indeed his decision.
He noted the conflicting reports that have been coming out from the Palace many times in the past. “If that is so, that is fine, but unfortunate,” Marquez said.
“I just wish that the President has been fully informed of the issues, and was not given just a sanitized summary regarding the matter. After all, what we are all after is continuing judicial reforms, which, I understand, is high on the President’s agenda,” Marquez stressed.
The judiciary is opposing the plan of Malacañang to divert some P1.98 billion in the judiciary’s proposed 2012 budget to the new item in the national budget called “miscellaneous personnel benefits fund” (MPBF).
Marquez also dismissed the claim of the said Palace officials that the issue of fiscal autonomy is already settled.
He noted that subjecting the judiciary and the constitutional commissions to certain conditions on the use of the questioned funds, among them, “exclusively used to fill up the unfilled items,” and “if not used, the funds revert to the Bureau of the Treasury,” is a clear violation of the constitutional provisions on fiscal autonomy.
Under the Constitution, Marquez stressed that fiscal autonomy, which is enjoyed by the judiciary, the Civil Service Commission, the Commission on Audit, the Commission on Elections and the Office of the Ombudsman, contemplates a guarantee of full flexibility to allocate and utilize their resources with the wisdom and dispatch that their needs require.
