Palace: World Bank report on Supreme Court loan genuine

MANILA, Philippines–Palace officials insisted on Tuesday that the World Bank report on a loan extended to the Supreme Court was “genuine.”

Presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said that he was able to verify from 10 officials in the executive who were furnished a copy of the report by the WB that “the version uploaded by a media outfit online, and theirs, are a match.”

“It seems that what the WB 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 in a statement which he read at a briefing.

Lacierda was reacting to a news item published Monday which said that the World Bank was denying it released a report on the Supreme Court’s Judicial Reform Support Project (JRSP) that noted its dissatisfaction with the way the project was being implemented.

The news item quoted Erika Leann Lacson-Esguerra, World Bank program assistant for external relations, as saying that the bank did not release to the media a supposed memo regarding the “unsatisfactory” progress of the high court’s loan.

“This email message did not come from the World Bank. Any official statement from the World Bank will be posted online (www.worldbank.org.ph),” Lacson-Esguerra was quoted as saying.

Lacierda said the Palace clarification was meant to “settle all doubts” arising from the news item.

“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 had egregiously misrepresented is that the report

didn’t cover his period in office; while his spokesman dodged the issue by calling it “unfair,” he said, adding that the report “specifically covers” the period of Corona being Chief Justice.

Lacierda reminded that President Aquino on Monday had said the WB report proved the need for reforms in the judiciary which Corona was “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 deliver true justice, speedily and impartially, to our people,” he said.

The WB report criticized the implementation of the JRSP which was supposed to benefit the lower courts but ended up benefiting the high court.