KIKO PUSHES FOR TWOFOLD INCREASE IN PROSECUTOR'S PAY TO LESSEN VACANCY RATE NOW TOTALLED AT 600; FILLING UP VACANCIES TO SPEED UP RESOLUTION OF CASES

To attract the best people in the Judiciary you have to pay them competitive wages and only then can you exact from them genuine service, Senate Majority Leader and Independent senator Kiko Pangilinan today said.

Following the second meeting of the Judicial, Executive, Legislative Advisory and Consultative Council (JELACC) in Malacanang last week, two important issues were brought up that needs immediate attention. First, is the increasing rate of vacancy among our public prosecutors and second, the low pay they are receiving from government.

"To date, there are 1,500 prosecutor positions in the country, of which, more than 600 vacant posts or roughly 40% to be filled up. The consequence is it will result in heavy case loads and serious delays in the disposition of cases. Records will show that the average life of a case is 6 years. This is too long and part of the delay is the utter lack of prosecutors in courtrooms throughout the country. Aside from that, we also have to deal with the fact, in no time we will be bringing up the rear of our government lawyers to the private sector because of low pay. This seriously affects the administration of justice and must be addressed squarely." Kiko said.

To counter this emerging problem, Sen. Kiko, who is also the chair of the JELACC sub committee that will look into and recommend additional compensation packages for government lawyers suggested to the body that in order to bring down the vacancy rate of our public prosecutors they should at least double the basic pay.

The Department of Budget and Management is arranging a preparatory meeting for another round of Salary Standardization Law for all government positions. In the past, before a SSL is implemented, government will have to review it, evaluate and recommend the pay scales before a definite solution is offered. Now, because of the creation of JELACC, the arduous process has been offset.

Sen. Kiko is also the principal author of RA 9227, the law that provides additional compensation for judges. He is also the principal author of RA 9279 that provided for a special allowance for prosecutors.

"Filling up these vacant positions and ensuring them that they will be paid accordingly is our top priority. We have to do this to trim down the vacancy rate of our prosecutors and we have to act fast if we are to restore our people's faith in the judiciary." Kiko ended.