The Court of Tax Appeals (CTA) now has three Divisions, each consisting of three Justices.

Last June 12, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo signed into law RA 9503, which expanded CTA’s organizational structure through the creation of a third division at the En Banc Session Hall, New Building, Supreme Court, Manila. RA 9503 shall take effect 15 days following its required publication.

“Five Justices shall constitute a quorum for sessions en banc and two Justices for sessions of a Division: Provided, That when the required quorum cannot be constituted due to any vacancy, disqualification, inhibition, disability, or any other lawful cause, the Presiding Justice shall designate any Justice of other Divisions of the Court to sit temporarily therein,” provides RA 9503.
 
Chief Justice Reynato S. Puno, Senate President Manuel B. Villar, Jr., House Speaker Prospero C. Nograles, CTA Presiding Justice Ernesto D. Acosta and the CTA Associate Justices, and the legislators who authored the bill were also in attendance.

Established in 1954 pursuant to RA 1125, the CTA’s membership originally consisted only of a Presiding Justice and two Associate Justices, each of whom were appointed by the President. RA 1125 was subsequently amended by RA 9282 under which the CTA may sit en banc and in two divisions of three justices each.

At present, the members of the CTA are Presiding Justice Acosta and Associate Justices Juanito C. Castañeda, Jr., Lovell R. Bautista, Erlinda P. Uy, Caesar A. Casanova, and Olga Palanca-Enriquez. Presiding Justice Acosta chairs the 1st Division with Justices Bautista and Casanova as members, while Justice Castañeda chairs the 2nd Division with Justices Uy and Palanca-Enriquez as members.

Under the new RA, the CTA will be given a budget of PhP20M “necessary to carry out the provisions of this Act” to be taken from whatever source available in the National Treasury.