The CORONAcles

Did Corona really misuse the loan granted by World Bank Association?

Chief Justice Renato Corona is in the middle of controversy as Appendix 4 of World Bank Aide Memoir which showed the alleged unjust use of the loan during his term leaked.

The World Bank loan called Judicial Reform Support Project (JRSP) was granted to the judiciary branch of the Philippine government to fund projects that would speed up the justice system and would enhance the institutional integrity.  It became effective in 2003 with the loan summing up to $21.9-million.

According to WB memoir an amount of US$199,900 of the loan was used for plane fares, dinners and hotel expenses during Corona’s term instead of using it for judiciary reforms.

On March 18, 2011, Chief Justice Renato Corona and other Supreme Court officials went to the University of Cebu. The aide memoire said it appears that plane fares for some court officials were taken from the loan.

The World Bank is also questioning the travel allowance of two court officials, which reached P170,000 each for a three-day trip to Sydney, Australia.

These are aside from lavish room accommodations and dinners shouldered by the Supreme Court. One of the said dinners was given to the members of the judiciary of Guam and their Philippine counterparts.  Early last year, CJ Corona played host to his Guam counterpart, the Honorable Robert J. Torres Jr.

World Bank rejected the charging of “extra expenses” and demanded reimbursement because these were not in line with the justice project.

Corona vehemently denied the allegation.  “This happened before I became Chief Justice. I was not responsible for this. This happened a decade ago and I have been Chief Justice for just a year and a half.”

However, Department of Budget and Management Secretary Butch Abad sees the 97 pages of documents prepared by the WB showed that the questionable diversion of funds from the JRSP only took place the previous year.  Corona was appointed chief justice of the Supreme Court in 2010.

"If you read the Annex 4 of the report, it was very clear there that the gross irregularities happened in 2010 and 2011," Abad said.

Abad also added, "The loan was negotiated sometime in 2003. Then it was implemented. What was startling is the finding that the mid-2010 up to 2011 [period] when they observed escalating use of funds and accompanying this was irregular use of funds".

The Aide Memoire indicated that CJ Corona knew about the review of the fund disbursement in the project.  It was agreed that one of the catches under the JRSP would be an Expenditure Review of the judiciary.  The Review was to audit expenses since the project was winding down.

Two of the Review findings of the WB Mission further sanctioned Corona.

First, WB indicated that “while unauthorized disbursements for plane fares, hotel and entertainment expenses were charged, some key expenses that were a vital part of the justice project remained unpaid. Continuing delays in payments, and in several cases outputs have been delivered but billings appear to be incomplete. And there are activities where amounts to be paid to vendors are still unclear and issues have remained open for more than a year.”

Among the unpaid expenses the Aide Memoire mentioned were the previous works contract for the Angeles City Hall of Justice.  It is estimated to be between P16-21 million.

Second, the funds are not directed to where it is supposed to be. According to a statement in the Aide Memoire’s “Fiduciary Reveiw”:

The PMO (Supreme Court Program Management Office) has developed a practice of ‘borrowing’ funds from the designated account to overcome reported dealys in naitonal budget cash releases even after receipt of the Notice of Cash Allocation (NCA) from the DBM (Department of Budget and Management. Funds were ‘borrowed’ to finance expenditures unrelated to the JRSP (e.g. “goodwill Games”, foreign travel, award of honorary degrees to foreign judges, etc.) and later – when such expenditures were questioned by the Bank – re-deposited to the Special Account (for the justice project).

In other words, Aide Memoire’s review shows that SC is merely borrowing the fund of the project to pay for non-related project expenses.

With the leak of the report, Abad has this to say, “That is something that the Chief Justice has to answer."