Unlike other government structures, the multi-million building does not have a billboard which shows the start of construction, date of completion, its cost and contractor.
Security is tight and people are kept out except for workers and security personnel of the high court.
Workers refused to answer the reporters questions.
The building, interiors sources said, will be lavishly furnished once completed, has been earmarked by Davide and his clique of retired and retirable justices as their vacation homes upon retirement.
The high court justices are each given a government vacation house in Baguio City, but this privilege and perks only come with the position. There are 15 huge homes for the use of each the magistrates.
The fast-rising building at the SC Compound in Baguio City is being built on government money and is meant to provide “shelter to retired Supreme Court justices on vacation,” sources told the Tribune yesterday.
Court sources claimed this was Davide's idea and a means to “keep the associate justices happy and comfortable” even when they no longer hold judicial power.
Even then, there was already growing resentment among the court officials.
A court source grumbled, questioning why these justices in the Davide court have to spend people's money for the comfort of those who have already benefited enormously from their retirement.
“What is even more insulting to court employees is that this type of housing benefit is not available to ordinary court employees, retired or otherwise,” the court insider said, adding “It was bad enough that there is an increase in the salary of the incumbent members of the Supreme Court, but now come even more freebies for the retired justices, as they are to get the same increase in their pension, but only for them, as the lower court employees are denied these perks,” he fumed.
He said that in all the years he had been with the high court justices he has never seen any batch of high courts lapping it up in luxury on government funds and giving no thought at all to the lowly court employees.
Resentment has been marked in the court employees, who are enraged that to this day, they continue to be kept in the dark on the status of the JDF and how the funds are being disbursed, insisting that contrary to the claims of the SC, they have yet to be given a copy of the fund's audit report.
This is where your JDF funds are going, court employees!
Kudos to the Tribune for getting this scoop. This story was already out since June of 2003 but I noticed that the Philippine Daily Inquirer, a pro-administration newspaper, has been ignoring the story for a long time until it was already apparent that the threat of a Davide Impeachment was imminent.
In September, the Commision on Audit came out with a report that found Justice Davide illegally diverting portions of the JDF funds to finance a retirement mansion, luxury vehicles and P120,000 chairs. The article has lots of details about where the money was spent and how much. Read this too.
Making things worse for Davide are charges of nepotism being hurled against him for having his son not only work for him as his Chief-of-Staff in the SC, but the same son is also the co-chair of the Bids and Awards Committee and is in charge of infrastructure projects financed by the JDF. Try connecting the dots and the big picture becomes clearer. Davide controls the JDF funds. His right-hand man in the SC is his son who is also BAC co-chair and has the authority to dole out contracts to favored companies and pet projects. Something's fishy here.
Davide defenders claim that the Chief Justice is an "honest" and "simple" man who lives a simple life... that they cannot see him doing anything illegal... blah blah blah. Well, I say to these blind supporters, YOU'RE NOT LOOKING HARD ENOUGH. Follow the money. Check his son out. Why is he so influential? Is DADDY looking out for him?
Again, connect the dots.
The name of the son is Joseph Bryan Hilary Davide, btw, and here's more information about him.
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