World Bank denies link to 'leaked' report on Supreme Court Judicial Reform Support Project

The World Bank (WB) disassociated itself from a so-called report on the Supreme Court’s Judicial Reform Support Project (JRSP). The report supposedly "leaked" to the media was touted as having contained findings showing the Supreme Court's use of WB loaned funds to deliver the intended reforms being "unsatisfactory". An Inquirer.net “report” went as far as qualifying that rating further as being applicable "under the watch of Chief Justice Renato Corona".

But according to an mb.com.ph report...

Erika Leann Lacson-Esguerra, World Bank program assistant for external relations, said Monday 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 said.

Furthermore,

Data from the World Bank’s website revealed that the pace of implementation has picked up under Corona's leadership, saying more than $1.3 million was disbursed in the first half of 2011 alone.

While the WB sources revealed that the project was delayed and had to be extended several times, it cited a number of factors that contributed to these delays, including the 2009 Typhoon Ondoy disaster, "coordination issues", "lengthy procurement processes", and "changes in the judiciary leadership". As such there is no hint of any one factor that could be made accountable for the lackluster delivery of the project.

Earlier, “social news network” site Rappler.com published a “report” that interpreted the contents of what now seems to be a bogus report allegedly "leaked" by Malacañang informants. The Rappler.com "report" seems to single out SC spokesperson Jose Midas Marquez who is also head of the Office of the Court Administrator which supposedly accounts for "16 of the ineligible expenditures" outlined in the so-called "leaked" WB report.