SC spokesman to Palace: Look at your own backyard

MANILA, Philippines—Supreme Court spokesman Jose Midas Marquez told Malacañang on Wednesday to address its own concerns instead of looking at someone else’s backyard.

Marquez issued the statement after the Palace said that the World Bank findings on the alleged misused loans of the judiciary “are scandalous and shocking.”

“While the Chief Justice and his spokesman plead ignorance, the document is the surest evidence that funds meant for judicial reforms were wasted, and in the process, basic rules of good governance were ignored. The findings are as scandalous as they are shocking,” Palace Spokesman Edwin Lacierda said in a statement.

Marquez claimed, however, that the World Bank report was not yet final and that the Program Management Office (PMO) of the Supreme Court, as a matter of standard operating procedure, is given the opportunity to correct any errors that may be stated in the WB report.

“’Yang aide memoir na ’ is not yet final because it is stated there that the PMO should identify errors, meaning, the World Bank admitted that there might have been errors. This is the reason why they are giving PMO the chance to submit a report and correct the errors,” Marquez said.

“Once the PMO report is submitted, the World Bank will come up with its final report. So let us see. Sana hinay hinay tayo sa pagbabatikos dahil palagay ko kahit sila hindi nila masyadong naiintindihan ang sinasabi nila kasi ako pinababayaan ko munang i-address ’yan ng PMO. Dami nilang concerns na dapat i-address so siguro ’yon muna ang dapat nilang pagtuunan ng pansin—andiyan ’yong patuloy na pagtaas ng gasoline, mga biktima ng bagyong Sendong…,” Marquez said. Marquez was speaking about the need for the executive branch not to be swift at condemning but to instead focus its attention on concerns it needs to address such as the continued rise of fuel prices and the plight of the storm Sendong victims.