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Lacierda:WB report on JRSP genuine

Statement of Presidential Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda on the World Bank report on the Judiciary

Contrary to the excitable—but utterly wrong—conclusions of an opposition lawmaker, 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.

We have 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. The report details the expenditures declared ineligible for World Bank funding. It also demanded a refund from the Supreme Court for expenses that were not covered by the grant.

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.

As the President has pointed out, 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.

Published inSupreme CourtWorld Bank projects

22 Comments

  1. Why is Lacierda the one making the statement on a report released by private media organization?

  2. Lurker Lurker

    So, how do we know whether the report is genuine or a fake?

  3. Al Al

    Ellen, nagtanong ka pa.

    Saan pa ba naman nanggaling yun.

  4. baycas2 baycas2

    nasa rappler ang sulat ni Matthew Stephens from World Bank. may detalye pa ng mga “ineligibles”. hindi ito “for public consumption”. para lang ito sa isang taga-SC at sa mga na-copy furnished kasama na si Corona.

    hanapin ang nag-leak ng sulat na ito kung kayang pigain si purple…

  5. baycas2 baycas2

    allegedly, julia abad’s andrew parker was the source of the leakage…

  6. Budget Secretary Butch Abad admitted he was one of the officials who had a copy.

    A Malacanang source said they gave the House of Representatives and Senate a copy.

    I have had no time to read the whole aide memoire to check if what I got by email is part of it.

  7. The government must win at any cost. Knowing the Filipino psyche, we love winners, even if you play fair but lose – it will never make a difference. People have short memories and are generally forgiving, success has a narcotic effect, it numbs us to sensitive bleeding hearts voices.
    If Corona wins, Gloria wins, and the people will forget everything Gloria has done, I will bet on that.

  8. We have a saying “may the best man win” actually he does not, he gets to stand there on the wedding watching his best friend the groom go home and make sweet love to his bride. The world does not give a hoot on best men but those who actually get the job done.
    No amount of justification or shoulda woulda coulda can ever substitute success.

  9. Itsa lot better scenario when you see someone win and then you pull him to the side and say “thats very good, but next time don’t break your opponent’s nose okay?” than “what a loser!”. 🙂

  10. benjpedro benjpedro

    This is why some leaks are good and why some whistleblowers need protection.

    There was a report as the world bank confirms.

    We would never have known that Estelito Mendoza’s Travel Agency (nothing wrong except he has cases filed in the SC) was contracted for SC travel and that WB money was used for CJ Corona’s trip to Cebu.

  11. chi chi

    I suppose the leak came from a SC insider who knows the truth about Corona’s doings.

    Dapat busisiin ang WB report as it did not deny the content. Only the press release was denied issued by the agency.

  12. chi chi

    #12. WB money was used for CJ Corona’s trip to Cebu.

    Yan lang patay na si Corona kung mapatunayan na hindi covered ng WB funding ang kanyang Cebu trip.

  13. chi chi

    World Bank confirms ‘ineligible expenditures’ in SC project
    abs-cbnNEWS.com
    Posted at 01/17/2012 1:50 PM | Updated as of 01/17/2012 1:55 PM

    MANILA, Philippines – The World Bank confirmed on Tuesday “ineligible expenditures” as contained in an aide memoire in connection with a $21.9 million project intended for judicial reforms.
    In a statement, the bank said “the Aide Memoire summarized the findings and recommendations of the mission, pointing out implementation issues that included some ineligible expenditures. The [Judicial Reform Support Project] is scheduled to close on June 30, 2012 and the focus for the remaining period is to bring the project to a closure.”

    ABS-CBN News came out with a story last week on the aide memoire, but some parties questioned the authenticity of the report.

  14. chi chi

    Totoo naman pala na sa WB galing ang aide Memoire na sekreto, ipinadala sa 13 Pinas officials… ini-leak sa media.

    Si Lacierda ang nag-release ng statement on the report, therefore, galing sa kanila ang press release/information na nakuha ng media.

    As to my opinion, it is better if we got this kind of ‘leak’ na totoo, nalalaman at nabubusisi natin ang katarantaduhan ng mga opisyal.

    One thing is sure, sa panahon ng Arroyo-Pidal illegal rule ay walang magkakalakas loob na i-leak ang “ineligible expenditures” of Corona (or any branches of her government).

    Nakabuti pa rin sa madlang pinoy ang leak na ito, now they become more aware of personages like Corona, the thief justice.

  15. Mike Mike

    #19:

    Jug,

    Don’t worry too much, I’m 100% sure the government will win… by hook or by crook. 😉

  16. saxnviolins saxnviolins

    News reports have it that the aide memoire was confidentially sent to Teresita De Castro. That indicates that it is the World Bank’s intention to keep the contents confidential between itself and the recipient.

    So I doubt if Teresita De Castro will reveal its contents. This is not privileged communication, by strict definition; but ethically, it will be difficult for her to reveal the contents, without violating the trust of the World Bank.

    How about a subpoena of the World Bank? Lalong hindi puwede, because a multilateral enjoys diplomatic status. One cannot issue a subpoena on the World Bank, in the same way that one cannot subpoena consuls of the US, EU, or other diplomatic missions.

    Of course, Butch Abad can testify on this, because he is a recipient. But would he not also be violating the trust of the World Bank? Daang matuwid di ba?

    When somebody says atin-atin lang, he means atin-atin lang, not atin-atin lang including the blogosphere.

    Do they really think they scored well with the World Bank?

  17. baycas2 baycas2

    …that’s the trouble when people in government got used to the handling instruction: “For Official Use ALSO”…

    —–

    well, it would be prudent to ask WB how they strictly define FOUO…in light of the WikiLeaks revelations.

    if the JRSP leak came from one of their own will there be a sanction against him/her?

    —–

    if the leak came from the Palace, did they sacrifice the WB trust just to create further distrust to the CJ?

    —–

    as to the leak itself, it’s still “deliberative in nature” and not for public consumption as WB review team expects response from the SC to somehow iron out problems.

    some revelations, however, may trigger further scrutiny (the memorandum and the annexes are just a summary) into the matter.

    example is the practice of borrowing by the SC of the borrowed money from WB to defray expenditures unrelated to the JRSP despite DBM’s Notice of Cash Allocation.

    another is the “shopping” method of procurement employed by the BAC-APJR (contained in Annex 4, #33).

    perhaps, there are more anomalies (esp. mismanagement) that’s why the WB review team rated “the project financial management performance as unsatisfactory and the overall project financial management risk as high“.

    a leak worthy of leakage, and very timely indeed when the very “secretive and exemptive” judiciary is on the verge of being decapitated then reformed.

  18. chi chi

    ‘a leak worthy of leakage…” indeed!

  19. Oblak Oblak

    Kung ang kampo nga ni Pnoy ang naglabas ng leakage, dapat lang. Hindi na pwede ang pa nice guy effect sa gyerang GMA/Corono vs. Pnoy.

    Sana naglabas ng ganyang report ng anomalya ang USAID na syang nag sponsor ng small claims cases program sa Supreme Court. According to a USAID representative, the budget for the purchase of the computers/printers for ALL the municipal level courts had been released to the Program Management Office (PMO)of the Supreme Court.

    Ang nangyari hindi binigyan ang lahat ng municipal level courts ng mga computers at ang Supreme Court ang nag set ng criteria na tanging mga municipal courts na may maraming caseload ang bibigyan.

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