WASHINGTON TO DECIDE WB REPORT RELEASE
World Bank Country Director Bert Hofman said that he has forwarded to the World Bank main office in Washington D.C. the letter from the Senate protesting and requesting reconsideration of his refusal to give a copy of the World Bank documents on the collusion scandal that implicates the First Gentleman and others.
This was contained in the letter dated February 9 sent by Hofman to Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago, chair of the economic affairs committee, in reply to Santiago ’s letter of 6 February 2009.
“Your letter raises important considerations of national and international law with respect to availability of information in the context of the World Bank recent debarment of international and domestic firms on grounds of collusion,” Hofman said.
Hofman said he forwarded Santiago ’s letter to the Washington D.C. legal department, apparently to study the points of international law raised by Santiago , who was Philippine nominee to the International Court of Justice.
In his latest letter, Hofman promised Santiago that he will provide the Senate with a copy of the Redacted Report, which is being finalized by the World Bank Integrity Vice-Presidency, and will then be reviewed by the Philippine government.
The reviewing officer will apparently be executive director to the Philippines Jorge Humberto Botero.
Santiago told media that there are apparently four WB documents: Referral Report November 2007; Notice of sanctions proceedings May 2008; Decision of Sanctions Board 12 January 2009; and Redacted (Edited) Report, to be posted in the WB website.
“I strongly suggest that any person commenting on the World Bank scandal should specify which of these four WB documents he is referring to. This would avoid confusion in the public mind,” Santiago said.
In her prior letter to Hofman, Santiago cited the following points of international law to support the Senate request for a copy of the World Bank documents:
This was contained in the letter dated February 9 sent by Hofman to Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago, chair of the economic affairs committee, in reply to Santiago ’s letter of 6 February 2009.
“Your letter raises important considerations of national and international law with respect to availability of information in the context of the World Bank recent debarment of international and domestic firms on grounds of collusion,” Hofman said.Hofman said he forwarded Santiago ’s letter to the Washington D.C. legal department, apparently to study the points of international law raised by Santiago , who was Philippine nominee to the International Court of Justice.
In his latest letter, Hofman promised Santiago that he will provide the Senate with a copy of the Redacted Report, which is being finalized by the World Bank Integrity Vice-Presidency, and will then be reviewed by the Philippine government.
The reviewing officer will apparently be executive director to the Philippines Jorge Humberto Botero.
Santiago told media that there are apparently four WB documents: Referral Report November 2007; Notice of sanctions proceedings May 2008; Decision of Sanctions Board 12 January 2009; and Redacted (Edited) Report, to be posted in the WB website.
“I strongly suggest that any person commenting on the World Bank scandal should specify which of these four WB documents he is referring to. This would avoid confusion in the public mind,” Santiago said.
In her prior letter to Hofman, Santiago cited the following points of international law to support the Senate request for a copy of the World Bank documents:
- International law is evolving away from the concept of absolute immunity.
- There is no Headquarters Agreement between the World Bank and the Philippine Government.
- In the landmark case of Liang vs. People, 355 SCRA 125 (2001), the Philippine Supreme Court ruled that international organizations, but not its officials, enjoy absolute immunity.
Labels: economic affairs, er, international law, Miriam, WB-banned contractors, World Bank
posted by MDS @ 1:27 PM
8 Comments
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8 Comments:
I think the reason why the World Bank refused to give a copy of the original document to the Senate is because of the sensitivity of its contents - the First Gentleman Arroyo and other high-ranking government officials were implicated as asking bribe money!
The question is, "Who leaked this information to the media?"
The Ombudsman could have done its job when it received a copy of the Referral Report by SECURING this document from the public as it conducts its own investigation, coordinating with the N.B.I. and the W.B. to get to the bottom of this.
World Bank, however, had asked the Ombudsman not to use the document to initiate any criminal/civil proceedings or cite it during its investigation. Meaning, the Ombudsman can do its own investigation on those people in the report and prosecute them if they've indeed violated our laws WITHOUT mentioning World Bank. But it's too late now since our Senate had done so much "brohaha," now the names of those criminals were out and they could simply deny the accusations and cover their tracks.
Also, the identities of the witnesses are at risks now that the Senate is asking for a copy of the report. You know how it is in the Philippines; if you have said something against a political entity, there's a possibility you're going to get silenced.
Another thing I'd like to add is that bid-rigging in our country is rampant. And it's been like this for many decades. Ask any construction owner if he could remember a time when he didn't have to pay royalties - in the form of money or gifts - just to secure a building permit from our local public works. The bigger the cost of your contract the higher the royalties that these government scumbags would ask from you. No royalties, no permit.
I hope World Bank would remain firm in its policy of not divulging this report to the Senate and stop lending money to the Philippines. It's about time that our government should take a serious look into the issues of corruption and clean it up.
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To Senator Defensor, your committee's handling of this case was a joke.
You accused World Bank of creating an anomaly for not giving you a copy of the Referral Report.
World Bank was understably concerned for the witnesses since giving this document to your committee would jeopardize their identities and therefore their safety (not to mention naming the criminals involved in the bid-rigging controversy).
In addition, your committee could have asked the Ombudsman for a copy, instead of creating all this drama and accusations.
Finally, you mentioned that, after you terminate this case, you would allow other senators to file a resolution to look into its criminal aspect; for crying out loud, it's too late for that!
The big names mentioned in the documents had been revealed. The criminals had already covered their wrongdoings! So, what's the point of filing a resolution or conducting an investigation? It's just a waste of our money!
I even suspect the Ombudsman is involved for not doing its work.
world bank is really an asshole!
I enjoy listening to you because I learn a lot in the process. You remind people of the rules to be followed even in the game of politics. All is fair in love and war but not in politics because those who throw mud cannot help but be muddied themselves. My only concern is the occasional overkill by the use of polysyllabic insults but God put you there for a reason and in the final reckoning you must meet His standard of Justice.
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