Authorizing the Grant and Release of Fringe Benefit to the Judges, Officials and Personnel of the SC, PET, CA, Sandiganbayan and the CTA

June 26, 2012

SUPREME COURT MEMORANDUM ORDER NO. 15-12

AUTHORIZING THE GRANT AND RELEASE OF FRINGE BENEFIT TO THE JUSTICES, OFFICIALS AND PERSONNEL OF THE SUPREME COURT, PRESIDENTIAL ELECTORAL TRIBUNAL, COURT OF APPEALS, SANDIGANBAYAN AND COURT OF TAX APPEALS

WHEREAS, by virtue of, and pursuant to, his authority under the Constitution to augment items in the budget for the Supreme Court and the Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET) from savings in other items therein and under Joint Resolution No. 1, dated April 3, 1992, of the Constitutional Fiscal Autonomy Group (CFAG) on the use of their savings in the exercise of fiscal autonomy, and pursuant further to CFAG Joint Resolution No. 57, dated March 24, 1999, the Chief Justice may authorize the grant of fringe benefit in the form of Rice Subsidy Allowance to officials and employees of the judiciary to alleviate them from their present economic condition arising from the prevailing economic crisis in the country; aEDCAH

WHEREAS, as reported by the Fiscal Management and Budget Office (FMBO) of the Supreme Court, there are prior years' savings in the respective Fiscal Autonomy Accounts (FAAs) of the Supreme Court and the PET to cover funding requirements for the grant of fringe benefit in the concept of a rice subsidy allowance in the amount of FOUR THOUSAND FIVE HUNDRED PESOS (P4,500.00) to each of the justices, officials and personnel of the Supreme Court and the PET;

WHEREAS, fringe benefit in the amount of FOUR THOUSAND FIVE HUNDRED PESOS (P4,500.00) may likewise be granted to each of the justices, officials and personnel of the three appellate courts (Court of Appeals, Sandiganbayan and Court of Tax Appeals) chargeable against the prior years' savings in the respective FAAs of the said appellate courts, as certified to by their respective proper officials.

IN VIEW OF THE FOREGOING, the Senior Associate Justice (Per Section 12, R.A. 296, the Judiciary Act of 1948, as amended) hereby authorizes the grant and release of fringe benefit, as follows:

1. FOUR THOUSAND FIVE HUNDRED PESOS (P4,500.00) to each justice, official and personnel of the Supreme Court and the PET, which shall be charged against the prior years' savings of the Supreme Court and PET in their respective FAAs; and,

2. FOUR THOUSAND FIVE HUNDRED PESOS (P4,500.00) to each justice, official and personnel of the Court of Appeals, Sandiganbayan and Court of Tax Appeals, which shall be charged against the prior years' savings of the three appellate courts in their respective FAAs.

The benefit herein granted shall be received in its full amount by those who are in the service for three (3) months or more, as of June 30, 2012, and shall be subject to the implementing guidelines hereto attached.

This Memorandum Order shall take effect immediately and shall forthwith be implemented by the Presiding Justices of the Court of Appeals, the Sandiganbayan and the Court of Tax Appeals, the Clerk of Court of the Supreme Court, the Chiefs of the Office of Administrative Services and the FMBO of the Supreme Court. TAEcSC

Issued this 26th day of June 2012.

(SGD.) ANTONIO T. CARPIOSenior Associate JusticeR.A. 296, the Judiciary Act of 1948, as amended)