Palace: World Bank report on SC fund 'misuse' genuine

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

(UPDATED) The World Bank report regarding the alleged misuse of funds intended for reforming the Philippine judiciary is "genuine," a Malacanang official said Tuesday.

While the World Bank on Monday denied that the supposed aide memoire came from them, it nevertheless did not deny its veracity, presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said.

"The World Bank report on Judicial Reform Support Program (JRSP) is genuine. It seems that what the World Bank has done is clarify that it did not release the report to the media, but a careful reading of its statement shows that they did not deny the authenticity of the report itself," he said.

The Palace has "verified with officials who were furnished copies of the World Bank report that the version uploaded by a media outfit online, and theirs, are a match," he added.

The report details the expenditures declared ineligible for World Bank funds allotted for the project. It also demanded a refund from the Supreme Court for expenses that were not covered by the grant, he added.

A national broadsheet on Monday quoted an official from the World Bank denying the release of a supposed aide memoire dated December 28, 2011, which stated apparent “dissatisfaction” of the bank with the way the high court used the $21.9-million loan for the Judicial Reform Support Project under Chief Justice Renato Corona’s leadership.

Erika Leann Lacson-Esguerra, World Bank program assistant for external relations, said the report did not come from the World Bank and any official statement of the bank will be posted on its website, www.worldbank.org.ph.

Several newspapers wrote about the content of the report that indicated several “ineligible expenditures” of the loan for JRSP like it was apparently used for the trips of some SC magistrates and spent to buy expensive laptops.

Lacierda noted that even Corona and SC spokesperson Midas Marquez did not deny the authenticity of the report.

“It is interesting to note that neither the Chief Justice nor his spokesman have disputed the authenticity, or the existence, of the report: what the Chief Justice has egregiously misrepresented is that the report didn’t cover his period in office; while his spokesman dodged the issue by calling it ‘unfair’. The truth is the report specifically covers the period of Mr. Corona being Chief Justice,” he said.

He said aside from the judiciary, 10 officials from the executive branch also got a copy of the report including the Department of Finance, Department of Budget and Management and National Economic and Development Agency.

Lacierda echoed President Benigno Aquino III’s statement that the report proves the pressing need for reforms in the judiciary.

“Reforms that the present Chief Justice, who has lost his moral ascendancy, is incapable of achieving. The ongoing impeachment of the Chief Justice is thus a vital step in the process of reforming the judiciary, so that it can finally deliver true justice, speedily and impartially, to our people,” he said.

Lacierda said the Palace will welcome any investigation on the anomaly either it will be initiated by the House or the Senate.

Senate finance committee chairman Franklin Drilon earlier filed a resolution calling for the investigation into the alleged World Bank fund mess. The House is also reportedly planning to conduct a separate probe on the bank’s report.

"Any way where the World Bank report can be disclosed officially, that is something we can welcome. It can either be in the House, it can either be in the Senate or it can even be raised in the impeachment court as some of the prosecutors are intending to do," he said. (Jill Beltran/Sunnex)