PH Now Creditor Status With IMF

MANILA

WITH ITS CONTRIBUTION of $251.5 million as of December 2011, the Philippines attained a creditor status with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). [Report]

A Lot of Cleaning Needed

MANILA

With sacking of NBI chief Gatdula, Manila mayor Alfredo Lim recently dismantled the Manila Police District antidrug units with the uncovered extortion activity of its Sta. Cruz unit from four illegally detailed Korean nationals. So much corruption has seeped into the system of government from many years of unabated tango with corruption of leaders. Even the law enforcers turned to be tainted in many ways. Thanks to the current national and local administrations who fought to restore accountability and clean public service in the country.

Philippine National Police

MPD Station 3 (Sta. Cruz) extorted money from four Korean nationals. [Report]

National Bureau of Investigation

Chief Gatdula sacked in the aftermath of P 15 million extortion of NBI operatives from a Japanese national. [Report]

The Impeachment Trial of AJ Castillo

MANILA

The Committee on Justice of the House of Representatives voted 38:10 (0 abstention), finding probable cause to impeach Supreme Court Associate Justice Mariano del Castillo on the charge of betrayal of public trust. One of the major ground for the impeachment complaint was his alleged plagiarism of his sources work without attribution.

When this process reach the Senate for trial, Del Castillo will become the second Supreme Court Justice to face impeachment trial in Philippine history.

Sources

____: "House Committee Votes 38-10 to Impeach Justice Del Castillo," The Philippine Daily Inquirer 21 February 2012 [Read]
____: "Probable Cause," House of the Representative 12 February 2012 [Read]

LTFRB Issues First Green Pasada Franchise

MANILA

THE LAND TRANSPORTATION and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) finally issued on 20 February 2012 the first franchise for environment-friendly eJeepneys to the eJeepney Transport Corporation with the opening of a third route that covers the Heritage Route. The commercial run begins on March 1.

The company launched in 2007 with international acclaim the first eJeepney fleet, which initially covered two routes--the Salcedo Village loop and the Legaspi Village loop. [Source]

DMIA Reverts to Original Name

PAMPANGA

CLARK INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT Corp. (CIAC), the legal owner and manager of the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport (DMIA) at Clark Freeport recently conducted a survey among pilots and players in the aviation industry. And the prevailing sentiment continued to be in favor of the original name--Clark International Airport--in how they refer to DMIA. In fact, ever since the time of the Clark Air Base of the United States Air Force, the airport continues to be referred to in its three-letter code: CRK.

On 27 July 1994, then president Fidel V. Ramos issued Executive Order No. 192, creating the CIAC to manage the Clark Aviation Complex (CAC), and naming the international airport as CIA. The Senate ordered in 1991 the closure of the airbase.

The switch to DMIA happened in 2003 when local politicians made a resolution to rename the international airport to bear the name of the father of then president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

Effective February 2012, the airport will revert to its original name, Clark International Airpor. [Source]

The Jose Velarde Assets

MANILA

The Makati Regional Trial Court ruled on 15 February 2012 not to issue an injunction on against the Philippine government on the sale of some P90-million worth of forfeited assets of the so-called Jose Velarde which later businessman William Gatchalian of Wellex Group of Companies claimed to be his. The assets consist of shares of stocks of Waterfront Philippines.

Background

After the conviction of former president Joseph Estrada for plunder, the Sandiganbayan ordered in September 2007 the forfeiture of P146 million in assets from Banco De Oro. Gatchalian filed a motion for reconsideration, which the Sandiganbayan denied in April 2009.

The following month, Gatchalian filed a complaint before the Makati court. He wanted to stop the sale of the assets arguing that these do not form part of the Jose Velarde accounts, which supposedly belong to Estrada.

Forfeited include other Jose Velarde assets such as the P215 million funds donated to the Erap Muslim Youth Foundation and the Boracay Mansion in New Manila, Quezon City.

Sources

Michael Punongbayan: "Sandiganbayan lauds court ruling on forteiture of Jose Velarde assets," The Philippine Star 16 February 2012 [Read Report]

Devastating Quake Hit Negros Occidental

NEGROS ORIENTAL

On 6 February 2012 (Monday), a 6.9-magnitude quake [Philvocs; USGS 6.7] hit the city of Guiholngan, leaving a spate of destruction on properties, at least 45 people confirmed dead, and still 92 more missing.

Deaths and missing people are also reported in the towns of La Libertad.

Roads coming in and going out of Guiholngan are badly damaged rendering the city inaccessible through the lands, causing problems in potable water supplies, fuel, and food. Relief goods can only be flown in or through the sea.

Aftershock

Post-quack tremors around noon caused panic in Central Visayas particularly the city of Cebu as false reports on a tsunami happening circulated an hour or two later.

DBM Phases Out SARO and ABM in 2013 Budget

MANILA

THE DEPARTMENT OF Budget and Management under Secretary Florencio Abad will phase out the requirements of special allotment release order (SARO) and agency budget matrix (ABM) for the release of finds in the 2013 National Budget.

The agency observed that only a few budgetary items require its approval before the corresponding allocation is released. In its proposed budget next year, the approve national budget will become a comprehensive release order, which provides direct release of the budgets for government agencies. Abad said that this approach will cut on the long release gap that aforementioned documents are known to require.

All appropriations have a one-year validity, afterwhich it cannot be carried over to the following year.

Source

_____: "DBM to phase out SAROs, ABMs from 2013 national budget," InterAksyon 26 January 2012 [Read]

DOE Creates IRC

MANILA

ON THE HEEL of accusations that the oil companies have conspired to overprice liquid fuel in the country, the Department of Energy under Secretary Jose Rene Almendras formed the independent review committee (IRC) tasked to review the books of oil companies doing business here.

The members of the committee are sector nominees that their colleagues in their respective industries put forward to DOE on the basis of their "credibility, competence, integrity, commitment, and leadership."

Nominees for the IRC include Raul Concepcion (Consumer and Oil Price Watch), former economic planning secretary Solita Monsod, former budget secretary Benjamin Diokno, professor Rene Azurin (University of the Philippines), economist Vic Abola (University of Asia and the Pacific), accountant Tammy Lipana, and partylist representative Vigor Mendoza.

The nominees first met on 26 January 2012 in order to discuss how IRC will review the books of the aforesaid oil firms.

Source

Elgin Ros: "Committee tasked to audit oil firms' books meets on Monday," InterAksyon 26 January 2012 [Read]

Supreme Court Under Chief Justice Corona

MANILA

For Filipinos who are not privy to going-ons inside the highest Court of the land, the Supreme Court under Chief Justice Renato Corona find itself wanting vis-a-vis the judicial leaderships in the recent past. The growing concern did not come so much on any political attack on the High Court, but her behavior in the dispensation of justice. It got embroiled in controversies of its own making; and where specific justices got involved, its action smacked of self-preservation even on the cost of twisting the commonsensical character of the law.

Problems in Handling of Money

Here is the full report from The Philippine Daily Inquirer, on 15 January 2012: 

The Supreme Court under the watch of Chief Justice Renato Corona has been weighed and found wanting.
The World Bank has uncovered questionable procurements and disbursements in the high court in connection with the Judicial Reform Support Project (JRSP). The project, partly funded by a World Bank loan of $21.9 million (P930.75 million at an exchange rate of P42.50 to $1), was designed to restore efficiency in the dispensation of justice in the country.

In an aide memoire, the World Bank said that since Corona assumed his post in mid-2010, progress in reforming the judiciary “has been rated unsatisfactory,” with “implementation delays and additional work required for smooth project closing.”

The document detailed the results of a fiduciary review conducted by a World Bank task team on Oct. 24-Nov. 11, 2011, through discussions with justices of the high court and field visits to courts all over the country.

“The review discloses that the fiduciary environment pertaining to JRSP implementation has so deteriorated that the task team now rates the JRSP as a ‘high risk’ and ‘unsatisfactory’ on project management, project procurement and financial management dimensions, and observes that project financial statements can no longer be relied upon,” the World Bank said.

The review uncovered, among others, “inaccurate/incomplete information” on the project’s financial management report, “diminished existing internal check-and-balance mechanism,” purchase of information technology equipment outside of the agreed procurement plan, and the practice of borrowing funds from the loan for the justices’ foreign travels, paid to a travel agency owned by lawyer Estelito Mendoza.

The World Bank is now demanding a refund of $199,900, covering “70 payments” deemed “ineligible” or unauthorized under the terms of the JRSP, by Jan. 31.

Review trigger

The World Bank initiated the fiduciary review when Corona was already appointed Chief Justice by then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo despite an election ban.

It said the review was “triggered by several withdrawal applications” presented to the World Bank by the tribunal’s Program Management Office (PMO), “which seemed to signal a sudden and significant increase in the disbursement in the latter half of 2011.”

“The project result indicators depict achievements in several areas, but significant missed opportunities due to capacity and coordination constraints and delays in decision-making, procurement and contracting,” it said.

Included in the “ineligible” purchases were the printing supply of the Court Reporter’s Case Index, purchase of laptop computers, speaker’s fee for seminars, registration fee of justices attending international conferences, and foreign travels of justices and their staff (including airfare, hotel accommodations and meal allowances).

‘Black prop’

Asked to comment, Ramon Esguerra, a spokesperson of Corona’s legal team, on Saturday said the accusation was “not in any way connected to any of the articles of impeachment” against the Chief Justice.

He said it was the high court as a whole, and not Corona alone, that should respond to the accusation.

“Two days before the opening of the trial and there’s this story?” Esguerra told the Inquirer by phone. “The barrage of black propaganda has not ceased. In fact, it’s now coming out with greater intensity.”

Esguerra said media reports on Corona’s alleged ill-gotten wealth, as well as the latest on the supposed fund mismanagement at the high court, were all part of “a pattern of harassment intended to demonize the Chief Justice in the eyes of the public.”

“It’s very unfair,” he protested.

Corona himself said “it’s hard to answer that [accusation]” because he had yet to read the World Bank aide memoire.

The Inquirer sought his comment after a Tridentine Mass held late Saturday afternoon at the Supreme Court grounds, the last of novena Masses for the embattled Chief Justice.

Corona attended the Mass with his wife and more than 100 sympathizers, including former Philippine Commission on Good Government Chair Camilo Sabio.

The Chief Justice also said he had yet to decide whether he would attend the opening of his impeachment trial on Monday, contradicting Esguerra’s statement that he would show up.

One-man show

According to the World Bank, the diminished internal auditing mechanism in the high court was exemplified by Corona’s appointment of one man as court administrator, head of the Public Information Office, and chair of the Bids and Awards Committee.

The court administrator was authorized to approve, on Corona’s behalf, payments of up to P200,000 which was later increased to P500,000, the World Bank said.

“Lack of appropriate segregation of duties of key officials involved in the JRSP has created a breakdown of the control environment, increased fiduciary and reputation risks, and led to irregular/inappropriate procurement and expenditure decisions,” it said.

Without naming Jose Midas Marquez, the World Bank said “this senior official, due to the combination of his appointments and functions, was the requestor of the services, the approver of the terms of reference, the end-user of the services provided by the firm, the authorizer of contract extensions, and the authorizer of payments to the firm.”

It said this arrangement, among others, “present[ed] a conflict of interest and eliminate[d] internal checks and balances applicable to the procurement and disbursement functions.”

4 project components

The World Bank approved the loan in 2003 (Loan No. 7191-PH) “to assist the borrower in developing a more effective and accessible judiciary that would foster public trust and confidence through the implementation of the Supreme Court’s Action Program for Judicial Reform (APJR).”

The JRSP is the World Bank’s term for its financial support for the APJR, the brainchild of then Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr., who envisioned the much-needed judicial reforms to be bankrolled by combined resources from the national budget, the judiciary’s own funds and financing from development partners.

The four project components involved improving case adjudication and access to justice (i.e., mobile courts); enhancing institutional integrity (i.e., Code of Ethics and related training of judges and judicial personnel); strengthening the institutional capacity of the judiciary (i.e., e-Library); and support for the reform of the judicial system and for the high court’s PMO.

The judicial reform covered six key areas: judicial system procedures, institutional development, human resources development, integrity infrastructure development, access to justice by the poor, and reform support systems.

The World Bank has participated in all six areas; six other development partners have varying degrees of exposure to the APJR.

The loan was to expire on Dec. 31, 2009, during the incumbency of Chief Justice Reynato Puno. But the World Bank extended the closing date twice—first by 18 months (until June 30, 2011), and then by 12 months (until June 30, 2012).

But due to questions over the fiscal discipline of the tribunal in adhering to loan stipulations, the World Bank canceled the final tranche of the loan amounting to $0.5 million.

Thus far, the tribunal has spent $16.3 million (76 percent of the revised loan amount of $21.4 million, after deducting the $0.5 million). With reports from Christian V. Esguerra and Philip C. Tubeza

First posted 12:08 am | Sunday, January 15th, 2012

INELIGIBLE EXPENSES

The ineligible expenses amounting to P8.9 million ($199,000) of the $21.9 million World Bank loan include the following expenses:

       Goodwill Games (P9,080)

       Conference Registrations (P63,857)

       Hotel Accomodations (P104,327)

       Restaurant Bills (P127,010)

       Airfare (P212,339)

       Conferences and Seminar Resource Person Fees (P227,906)

       Reimbursed Travel Expenses (P564,450)

       Printing Services (P965,620)

       Computer Equipment (P8,602,504)

[Source: Annex 4 of the Judicial Reform Support Project (World Bank Memo)

DECISION ON DAY 44

 

Guilty: 20 votes

Not Guilty: 3 votes (Arroyo, Santiago and Marcos)

 

 

Sources

Amita Legaspi: "Lacierda: Supreme Court spent nearly P9M of WB loan on 'ineligible expenses'," GMA News 18 January 2012 [Read Report]

Jason Bourne 4th Installment Shoots in January

MANILA

THE THRILLER movie series Jason Bourne shoots in Manila and Marikina late January this year. The fourth installment, which succeeds the trilogy starring Matt Damon will introduce a new Central Intelligence Operative, Aaron Cross (Jeremey Renner).

Sources

Clara Masinag: "MMDA gung-ho about Bourne shoot, but police cautious," InterAksyon 5 January 2012

Year 2011 Closed Below Inflation Limit

MANILA

The country, under the new Aquino administration, closed the year 2011 with a 4.4 percent inflation, 0.6 percent below the target limit of five percent set at the beginning of the year. This came as the consumption-driven Philippine economy slowed down on the heel of the American and European economic crises and government underspending as it continued to cleanse the system from fiscal rot.

Sources
Joseph Villanueva: "4.4-pct inflation in 2011 well below target limit," InterAksyon 05 January 2012