Palace rebuffs COA report on Supreme Court budget

MANILA, Philippines - Malacañang rebuffed yesterday a Commission on Audit (COA) report stating that the Supreme Court (SC) had no serious fund irregularities in 2010.

“The reading of the COA (report) is not correct. The report is not entirely accurate. In fact, from a qualified opinion, it has become adverse. If you read the COA report, that is the conclusion that you will get. I don’t understand why the report says it cleared the Supreme Court of any irregularities. Read the report,” presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said in a press briefing.

“The best person to ask and confirm this COA report would be the commissioner, chairman of COA and she will give you the same answer that I did,” Lacierda said.

Earlier reports said except for some accounting errors like misstatements of balances, unliquidated cash advances, uncollected fees, recording and classifying errors, there was nothing in the COA report that would indicate fund misuse in the SC, much less one involving Chief Justice Renato Corona, who is set to face a Senate impeachment court on Jan. 16 for a host of charges, including corruption.

State auditors also took note of how the Judiciary Development Fund (JDF) last year had greatly benefited the country’s justices, judges, and court personnel.

The only thing that came close to an irregularity, based on the COA report, was the non-operation of P2.2-million worth of water purifying and refilling stations set up in 2009 before Corona was appointed Chief Justice.

By allowing the facilities to remain idle, COA said authorities are “depriving the employees of the intended benefits of the project and resulting in the wastage of government resources if these water stations continue to remain non-operational.” The COA report also said the P885.8-million JDF in 2010 was P12.1 million higher than the previous year’s P873.7 million.

The JDF was established on July 18, 1984 under Presidential Decree 1949 “for the benefit of the members and personnel of the judiciary to further ensure and guarantee the independence of the Judiciary as mandated by the Constitution.”

The money, derived from legal fees, is used to augment the allowances of officials and personnel and finance the acquisition, maintenance and repair of office equipment and facilities.

In its impeachment complaint forwarded to the Senate, the House of Representatives accused Corona of betraying public trust and involvement in corruption “when he failed and refused to account for the JDF and Special Allowance for the Judiciary collections.” The SC’s alleged failure to remit P5.38 billion to the Bureau of Treasury was not even mentioned in the 2010 annual audit report, sources said.