MANILA, Philippines — The World Bank denied on Monday it released a report on the Supreme Court’s Judicial Reform Support Project (JRSP) that noted its dissatisfaction with the way the project was being implemented.

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.

On Monday, several newspapers including Manila Bulletin received a press release on JRSP’s progress report that claimed it was an official statement coming from the World Bank.

The press release said that since mid-2010, or months after Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona took over, progress in attaining the project development objective and implementation have been rated “unsatisfactory.”

“The World Bank also noted the continuing procurement delays, uneven pace and quality of implementation, limited information on project results and fiduciary issues,” the statement read.

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.

Of the total project cost of $24.4 million, which aims to make the judicial system more accessible, about $21.9 million would come from World Bank’s International Bank of Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and the remaining $2.5 million will come from the national government.

Data from the World Bank showed that the bank has disbursed a total of $16.47 million as of December 31.

It also showed that the JRSP project could not be completed by December 31, 2009, and had to be extended by 18 months, to June 30, 2011.

The extension, however, was not enough, so the project was extended anew to June 30, 2012.

The bank attributed the delays to implementation and coordination issues in the Supreme Court, lengthy procurement processes as well as changes in the judiciary leadership.

The World Bank also cited the severe Typhoon “Ondoy” in 2009 as a setback because of the damage it brought to courts and records.

The bank also said that aside from the extension, the loan was also modified, with some loans reallocated and $500,000 cancelled.

World Bank did not disclose of reason for the cancellation.

“There are no changes to components but there are modifications to some activities within components. These changes have no implications for the development objectives,” the World Bank said.

On Monday, President Benigno S. Aquino III called for a review on the use of judiciary fund for transparency after the impeachment trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona is finished. (Additional reports from Genalyn D. Kabiling and Hannah L. Torregoza)