Justice de Castro defends SC use of World Bank funds

Associate Justice Teresita Leonardo de Castro

MANILA, Philippines—Supreme Court Associate Justice Teresita Leonardo De Castro defended the Supreme Court in the use of World Bank loan in implementing reforms in the Judiciary.

She told the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) that of the US$21.9 million loan, US$115, 000 has been treated “ineligible.”

Ineligible does not mean irregular, De Castro, who has been in charge of the funds, said.

“According to them (World Bank) we did not secure their agreement, meaning we have to secure their consent for every measure that we will undertake,” De Castro said

For example, De Castro said they hired a legal expert to lecture about docket congestion, or send a judge or a court employee for seminar or training, there has to be a World Bank consent so that the amount that will be spent on them will not be considered as “ineligible.”

“If you will look at the aide memoir, you will see there ‘no consent from the bank, no consent from the bank,” De Castro said.

Presiding Officer and fellow Supreme Court Associate Justice Diosdado Peralta asked, “if no consent, that should not have been sourced [from the loan]?” De Castro answered yes.

“There is nothing spectacular about the disbursement of those funds. There should have been prior agreement with the bank,” De Castro said.

The World Bank early this year has written the government raising issues about the implementation of its Judicial Reform Support Project (JRSP) loan.

The aide memoir has been leaked to media at the height of the impeachment trial against then Chief Justice Renato Corona.

De Castro, during the JBC interview said World Bank itself did not indicate that the spending of the loan funds was irregular but only they wanted prior consent before spending it on a particular reform project.