Judiciary protests, marks ‘Black Monday’ 09/26/2011

PALACE SCRAMBLES, VOWS DIALOG

Judiciary protests, marks ‘Black Monday’

09/26/2011
The hostile relationship between the Judiciary and the Executive is expected to come to a head today as court employees hold a “Black Monday” protest today against plans of the Palace to dip its hands into the budget of the judicial branch under the miscellaneous personnel benefit fund (MPBF) item in the national budget for next year that the Office of the President will have discretion on.

Malacañang tried to head off the nationwide protest, saying that a dialog between the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) and the judiciary has been scheduled to settle differences between the two branches of government over the budget.

In a statement, the Judiciary Employees Association of the Philippines (Judea) said court employees will wear black shirts and armbands today and on every Monday to show their opposition to the Palace move of impounding the judiciary’s budget.

The MPBF is a source of conflict in the budget since it reduced the judiciary’s budget for next year to P13.4 billion while juggling the budget for unfilled positions to the MPBF..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20110926hed1.html