Iloilo vice gov asks SC to junk $330-M ZTE project

Iloilo Vice Governor Rolex Suplico has asked the Supreme Court to stop the implementation of the controversial $330-million (P16 billion) national broadband deal between the Philippine government and China’s Zhong Xing Telecommunication Equipment (ZTE) Corp. In an August 28 petition, Suplico asked the high court to immediately issue a temporary restraining order to the Department of Transportation and Communication (DOTC), which unilaterally awarded the contract to ZTE. Suplico also asked the high tribunal to nullify the deal due to the alleged "dubious character" of the contract between the DOTC and ZTE. “In the light of recent developments relating to the approval, funding and eventual implementation of the ZTE-NBN deal render imperative their early resolution, to include the issuance of a TRO against further action on the ZTE-NBN deal," he said. “The interests of 88 million Filipinos who will stand to pay for the US$330 million ZTE-NBN deal could be adversely affected, if not gravely jeopardized by the actions of respondents (DOTC) should they not be hailed before this Honorable Court," he added. Suplico said the SC should compel the government to open “the DOTC-ZTE broadband deal to a transparent, competitive, and public bidding, in accordance with pertinent laws on government contracts and procurement, as a condition for implementation." He claimed the DOTC-ZTE contract is shady on the following grounds: The deal that consummated at a time of the election period violated the Omnibus Election Code. Under the said law, government officials are forbidden to make purchase or construction contracts during election periods unless a waiver was issued by the Commission on Elections. The deal was carried out without public bidding, violating the government’s policy on transparency and government procurement laws such as the e-Procurement Law, which requires competitors to submit bids simultaneously via the Internet on a specified date and time. The deal is inconsistent with the government’s policy on self-reliance and is violative of the Build-Operate-Transfer Law, which requires government agencies to give priority to unsolicited bids for government projects. The deal is also contrary to the government telecommunications policy as it violates the Telecommunications Development Act that ordered the government to privatize all its telecoms facilities since 1995. - GMANews.TV