vonjobi: wow, congratulations! kelan ang trip? i hope i'll be around when you come. had a good time with diosa last...
Keith Bacongco: Knowing Nograles and his Big Boss...garapalan na lang talaga.
Vinia Datinguinoo Mukherjee: Congratulations, PCIJ! Mabuhay kayo!
Lead Philippines: But without credible mass media there, what is left to protect the people..?
vonjobi: it's juned sOniDo.

Latest Message 5 months ago

hopeless_race : Lets not just focus sa mga malversation of funds, sa mga overpricing..ating pagtuunan ng atensyon ang diskarte ng mga politiko na umuutang ng bilyon bilyon sa gobyerno."Small time" ang ibang pamamaraan ng pangungurakot kumpara sa pag-utang sa gobyerno ng bilyon na tunay ngang masasabing "pinaka big-time" at wala pang sabit.
hopeless_race : Mukhang tikom ang bibig ng lahat pagdating sa diskarte ng mga politiko sa pagutang ng mga bilyon bilyon sa gobyerno na tinatakbuhan. Itong pamamaraan na ito ang tunay na kumakain ng malaking porsyento ng ating national budget batay na din sa sinasabi ng world bank.
hopeless_race : Pakisilip naman po ang mga utang ni Villar sa BSP, ang mga utang nila RAMON JACINTO, RONNIE ZAMORA, JOE DE VENECIA at madami pang ibang mga pulitiko. Iilan lamang yan sa mga nababanggit sa balita na may mga malalaking utang sa gobyerno.
hopeless_race : Nagmimistulang "small time" lamang ang malversation of funds kumpara sa laki ng kinakamal ng mga umuutang sa gobyerno. At ito ay malinaw na natatakbuhan dahil hindi nga naman pwede makulong ang may-ari ng kumpanya sa pagkaka-utang lamang. Tunay na mga tuso at magagaling sa batas itong mga politiko natin. Masasabi ko na malamang lahat ng mga politiko ganito ang diskarte...wala pang kulong.
hopeless_race : PCIJ pkitingnan naman po ang mga gaya ni Villar na my malaking utang sa Gobyerno pero tinatakbuhan. Magtatayo ng kumpanya at uutang ng bilyon bilyon sa gobyerno ng walang balak bayaran. Tunay ngang walang nakukulong sa utang...ito ang prinsipyo ginagamit ng mga politiko ntin kaya nakakapagtaka kung san napupunta ang daang bilyong pera ng gobyerno.
hopeless_race : Sana itreat naman po ng media ang hacienda luisita at mendiola massacre na parang MAGUINADANAO MASSACRE. Ipublicized ang mga katotohanan at ipakita sa tao ang karumaldumal na pinaggagawa sa mga farmers dun. Untouchable po ba sila cory at danding at hindi magawang batikusin ng media about these two massacres?
hopeless_race : Kapag napaguusapan ang mendiola at hacienda luisita massacre ay parang walang nangyari at parang hindi big deal. Anu po ba ang pinagkaiba ng dalawang nabanggit na massacre sa maguindanao massacre?
hopeless_race : Its sad that we pinoys are blind to the fact of what had happened in mendiola and hacienda luisita. Ang tanong..bakit ang media ay hindi manlang matackle ang ganitong usapin? Takot ba sila kay cory at danding?
hopeless_race : Wilkins" brand, for P1.4 billion.-1999 Sugarland Multi-Food Corp. for P2.9 billion 2001- Purefoods Corp P7 billion P60 billion Coca-Cola ... See More 2002- Cosmos Bottling Corp. from RFM Corp. for P14.1 billion October 2008- GSIS' shares in Meralco worth PHP30 Billion. December 2008- country's biggest oil refiner, Petron Corporation. international company shopping spree: Australian boutique brewer J. Boag and Son for A$96 million in 2000. $97 million for Thai Amarit Brewery Ltd $35.5 mi
hopeless_race : Gud am..glad to be back.
jr_lad : rip mr. alecks pabico. you'll be greatly missed!
sevens21 : Dati input mo lng name at SSS ID makukuha mo agad STATIC INFO...
sevens21 : tawag ka sa HOTLINE nila walang ANSWER grrr we need pa namn ng static info SSS Gising!!!
sevens21 : Gawa naman po kayo ng article about SSS. Pangit ng site nila dali ma blocked ng account
guest_899 : we must check the background of each potential candidates to avoid having another big mistake like GMA
guest_899 : congratulations to PCIJ, more power and God Bless !
jazzymuver : how did Arroyo swallow that kind of things!! how come that she just spend the money our countrymen for her own sake!!
guest_3664 : i would be glad if u can include the investigation of the manner public officials announce infra projects as per COA regulation. It is frustrating to see their faces on the tarpaulin instead of the prescribed information like name of project, date of implementation,amount of contract, source/s of fund, among other things. This is very rampant here in Marikina. Thanks and more power on your noble endeavors. We need people like you to have make our country great again.
jhanz_08 : im making research on R.A 9136...with rgards to the privatization of NPC..could someone out there can let me understand more bout this matter?why was monopoly dismantled?email me..jhanycem@yahoo.com...thanks much
erika marie : P.S.:) my paper is due next week and i do hope someone could provide me these reports coming from reliable resources thank you ulit.
erika marie : P.S.
guest_4275 : i am currently doing a study regarding political killings in the philippines. could someone out there please send me human rights reports under Aquino and Ramos administration. you could send it at my email: erikamariet@yahoo.com your response would surely be very much appreciated. thank you everyone. god bless.
guest_4275 : i am currently doing a study for my paper regarding political killings in the philippines. i noted that there are no human rights reports during the Aquino and Ramos administration. could someone out there please send me reports regarding these matter? i do hope these reports came from reliable resources you could send it in my email; erikamariet@yahoo.comyour response would surely be appreciated. thanks everyone. god bless.
jayson bourne : gusto ko po maging member ng PCIJ, panu po ba? may application po ba? sana mapadalhan nyo ako ng info sa email ko... www.jboxpenshoppe@yahoo.com
jayson bourne : cory is OK, but kris & Noynoy sensationalize masyado...
guest_9891 : LABAN pa rin!
meow : boycotts worked during marcos years. how about doing it now against the businesses of the con-ass congressmen?
meow : aside from 168, what other establishments can we boycott that belong to the arroyos and their cronies?
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Independent audit of loan-funded gov’t contracts urged

Posted by: Karol Ilagan | February 13, 2008 at 3:40 pm
Filed under: Civil Society, Governance, In the News, The Economy

RODOLFO Lozada Jr.’s revelations on the $329-million national broadband network (NBN) project have been stirring much controversy, especially with allegations of bribery and overpricing involving no less than the First Gentleman.

The botched Chinese deal, however, is only one of the many projects that exposes the deeply embedded flaws of what Lozada refers to as the government’s “dysfunctional procurement system.”

Groups are calling for the suspension of the allegedly overpriced South Rail project. Projects like the NBN are financed through foreign loans, called the official development assistance (ODA). And as of October 2007, the government’s foreign debt was pegged at P1.589 trillion, according to the Bureau of Treasury. Each Filipino, therefore, owes creditors of the government at least P17,577.

Worse, most of these ODA-financed projects fail to achieve its projected goals. A recent study conducted by the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism shows that seven out of 10 projects reviewed fall short of its target economic benefits, both at completion and rollout.

In principle, taxes are levied by governments to generate financing for projects and programs aimed at improving the lives of its citizens. In our country, however, taxes or P269.85 million, as of the approved 2008 budget, will be used just for debt servicing or paying of interest.

This has led advocacy groups led by the Freedom from Debt Coalition (FDC) to demand the immediate independent audit of all loan-financed government contracts, starting with the suspended NBN deal and other projects implicated in Lozada’s testimony.

The groups, in a press conference last Monday, said that the NBN controversy has exposed the government’s “insatiable debt addiction, its frivolity in acquiring new yet unwanted debts, and its subservience to foreign leaders.”

They stressed that the government is very vulnerable to plunderers who see the system as a “lucrative source of business opportunities and huge kickbacks.”

“A government that places (the) highest priority on debt service and fully dependent on heavy borrowings is even more vulnerable to wrong priorities, fixated with chasing after ‘foreign-assisted’ projects, and driven by external funding,” they said in a statement.

Illegitimate loans

According to University of the Philippines economics professor Ernesto Pernia, loans acquired for development projects are considered illegitimate when these have not gone through the “usual, rigorous process.”

“The standard usual process used to be quite very rigorous and is reviewed in all aspects,” he recalled. But now, like in the NBN deal, which Pernia noted as an example, “There have been shortcuts in the process in NEDA (National Economic and Development Authority) because of political intervention.”

Pernia explained that the standard procedure involves a long process, a meticulous review, of project proposals performed by NEDA’s Investment Coordination Committee (ICC).

With recent anomalies like NBN, the “technical, economic analysis and review,” Pernia believed, have now turned into “a political game, a political affair.” (See the PCIJ story, Has Neda Gone Nada?)

Moreover, Asia Pacific Movement on Debt and Development coordinator and FDC vice-president Lidy Nacpil explained that the concept of legitimacy of debts touches on various principles such as human rights and sustainable human development, justice and fairness, accountability and responsibility, sovereignty of the people and nations, and democratic rights and processes.

Loans that violate the above principles, according to her, are deemed to be illegitimate, or unacceptable. These violations, she enumerated, transpire in the following elements of acquiring and utilizing loans: process, terms and contractual obligations, purpose, use of funds, debt servicing, and the practice of using debt, debt relief, and access to credit as leverage for imposing conditionalities.

RP-China loans

At the Senate hearing last Friday, Lozada revealed that he had been involved in at least three more anomalous government projects, which are all funded by the Export-Import Bank of China: the ZTE (Zhong Xing Telecommunications Equipment Limited)-NBN Project, the South Luzon Railways Project, and the Cyber Education Project.

The list below provided by FDC enumerates the major issues concerning anomalous government projects with loans from China:

North Luzon Railways Project ($503 million or P20.6 billion)

lack of competitive bidding

questionable legality of the buyer credit loan agreement

requirement that all contractors and suppliers for the project will be Chinese nationals

lack of the contractor’s engineering expertise and experience

displaced thousands of families without promise of adequate relocation

bypassed legal and institutional checks designed to ensure transparency and public consultation

the total cost of $503 million for a 32.2-kilometer length of rail line meant that the average cost is nearly $16 million or around P900 million per kilometer, exclusive of the costs for clearing, relocation, and resettlement of informal dwellers occupying the railroad right-of-way

the loan’s interest rate of three percent a year is much higher than the rate on other loan packages that the Philippines could have availed of

South Luzon Railways Project ($885.4 million or P36.3 billion)

displaced about 7,000 families to give way to the laying of the tracks in Muntinlupa

overpriced by as much as $70 million, as mentioned by Lozada during the Senate hearing of the NBN contract

National Broadband Network Project ($329.5 million or P13.5 billion)

no existing financial plan and analysis

there were no feasibility studies and the implementing agency has not initiated any detailed engineering studies, plans, specifications and design

suffers from a crisis of transparency and alleged lack of competitive bidding

marred with accusations of bribery and corruption and crisis of relevance

Cyber Education Project ($504 million or P22.77 billion)

does not address the lack of classrooms and schoolhouses, which are also needed to house the multimedia devices

public schools unable to support the maintenance of and even just the infrastructure for the multimedia devices will still be not able to enjoy the project’s benefits

the government will still have to bear P3.71 billion or 14 percent of the project cost, on top of the continuing cost for maintenance

the P22.77-billion project cost would have meant 51,913 new classrooms, 1,970,000 new teaching positions, 434 million new textbooks or 336 million chairs

the same amount can also pay for the full, four-year scholarships of 1,085,000 college students

According to FDC, these projects, if summed up, will total $2.2 billion or P93.2 billion in government indebtedness that must all be considered illegitimate.

Independent audit

To uncover the truth about scandal-ridden government projects, FDC, together with other advocacy groups will convene the Citizens Debt Audit Commission, comprised of other citizens’ groups, lawyers, members of the academe, and faith-based and non-government organizations. The Commission will conduct its independent audit of government projects and submit recommendations base on its findings.

They also urge both Houses of the Congress to form a Congressional Commission on Debt Audit for the same purpose. “We call on other government officials and private citizens who have information concerning other questionable projects to come forward,” they said. “The best way to honor and give meaning to the courage and selflessness of Jun Lozada is not by merely extolling his good deeds, but by replicating it with the same act of daring.”

But most importantly, the groups urged the people to resist being “lulled by talk of a mythical economic growth to silence outrage over the depredations of the government.” They said, “It is time to stand up against massive corruption and the heavy-handed brazenness with which our rights are being trampled and our political space curtailed.”

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 13th, 2008 and is filed under Civil Society, Governance, In the News, The Economy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

3 people have left comments

This is what i’m talking about Bring ur gun out IRS where not gonna solve this curruption unless u really step do the auditing,they said independent auditor????? dont we have Internal Revenue System in the Phillipines?????????In United States if it regards to money IRS will be in side right away,I think Phillipines have one to but they just don’t know how important they are or they being blindsided by the Government IRS have a lot of job to do regarding about Phillipines Money and Debt…like isaid before everything else wipe all the money maker currupt pilipino politics,,it should’nt be that hard to do simple math add minus ask all of them to present all their bank statement and account, by doing that you’ll find out all where,when who ,he got to who gave it tohim why and what for,,, see this is what all the media supposed to be doing asking question,,direct to the point.. never hear anybody why they took lozada at the airport for no reason.Do a polygraph test see who lie and that will be it for Mr Lozada Case He knows he has a warrant why did Mr. Atienza asked Mr Lozada to be pick up by his Lawyer,,,this is how mess up Phillipines is u can’t protect your self having a Lawyer Justices in the Phillipines are all being under control by who ever is the President…When are we gonna have a true uncurrupt Country….. I’m thinking of creating me an Elite Commmando Equalizer team to wipe out all kind of Curruption in Phillipines…..Kill all of them someday will do just for fun hehe im feelin good expresing this i know i know im not the only one who’s thinking what im thinking all i need is thirty for now i will privide?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

jimpot wrote on February 14, 2008 - 5:28 am | Visit Link

Good Idea,

But Jimpot, what happens when the nation spirals into bloodletting? Or as as Clint Eastwood of the Dirty Harry fame said: “Today are the criminals, tomorrow is your neighbor whose dog had pissed on your lawn?

After creating an elite commando and annihilate all the crooks in the government, who will disband this commando? and how about when a member of this commando had some traffic altercations with an ordinary motorist, who will assure us that he would not train his armalite on the other fellow?

Just food for thought…. but the crooks in the government were already thinking that iam on their side…

jcc wrote on February 14, 2008 - 6:38 am | Visit Link

Like i said Equalize,Its won’t be that much…………

I just have the Ability to Know and Sense the higher truth for being a Citizen,………

jimpot wrote on February 14, 2008 - 2:16 pm | Visit Link