Suspension of ODA funding for 11 projects not enough - FDC
02/20/2008 | 03:40 PM
The Freedom from Debt Coalition (FDC) on Wednesday described President Arroyo's suspension of Official Development Assistance as a "positive development".
The FDC, however, criticized the reason - that the country has enough local financing already to cover projects - behind Mrs Arroyo's decision.
"We believe that such an executive action is the next logical step after the legislature decided that 'no amount shall be used for the payment of interest payments on debts which are challenged as fraudulent, wasteful and/or useless, like but not limited'" to what FDC labeled as illegitimate debts.
But the group said the excuse used by Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye in justifying the suspension is "evasive to say the least."
Bunye's statement "conveniently ignores the fact that the suspension precedes the controversies which surrounded the ZTE-NBN deal," the group said, adding that suspending the projects without the benefit of a corresponding investigation is suspect.
The FDC called for an independent Comprehensive Debt Audit, which will scrutinize and investigate all loan- and ODA-financed projects.
"If the Arroyo administration has nothing to hide, and for it to be able to give flesh to its rhetoric on transparency and accountability, then it should readily support such an audit, even if it leads to suspending more projects and holding accountable persons within the administration," the group said.
President Arroyo on Tuesday put on hold 11 infrastructure projects financed through ODA.
During a meeting of the Procurement Transparency Group in Malacañang on Tuesday, President Arroyo ordered her economic team to look for local funding for these projects instead.
"We are putting on hold all ODA loans which are not yet finalized... We can do this without borrowing," President Arroyo said.
The projects that would be covered by the order include the following:
* New communications, navigation, surveillance and air traffic management systems development project (P2.64 billion)
* Regionalization of mental health services (P2.64 billion)
* Phase 2 of the redevelopment of the Tacloban Airport (P1.12 billion)
* Construction of elementary and secondary classrooms in areas with acute shortage (P45.6 million)
* Cyber-Ed project (P26.48 billion)
* LRT Line 1 south extension (P27.32 billion)
* Mainline south railway project for the Luzon Urban Beltway (P15.3 billion)
* LRT Line 2 extension (P10.33 billion)
* Bataan-Manila pipeline project (P7.2 billion)
* LRT Line 1 north extension project (P5.98 billion)
* Angat water utilization and aquaduct improvement (P5.75 billion)
President Arroyo also ordered Budget Secretary Rolando Andaya to hold a dialog with multilateral lending partners of the country to come up with a "uniformed and fair terms of reference" for future projects.
Presidential Spokesman Ignacio Bunye explained that if the government decides to revive the controversial CyberEd project, funding would be sourced locally. - GMANews.TV
The FDC, however, criticized the reason - that the country has enough local financing already to cover projects - behind Mrs Arroyo's decision.
"We believe that such an executive action is the next logical step after the legislature decided that 'no amount shall be used for the payment of interest payments on debts which are challenged as fraudulent, wasteful and/or useless, like but not limited'" to what FDC labeled as illegitimate debts.
But the group said the excuse used by Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye in justifying the suspension is "evasive to say the least."
Bunye's statement "conveniently ignores the fact that the suspension precedes the controversies which surrounded the ZTE-NBN deal," the group said, adding that suspending the projects without the benefit of a corresponding investigation is suspect.
The FDC called for an independent Comprehensive Debt Audit, which will scrutinize and investigate all loan- and ODA-financed projects.
"If the Arroyo administration has nothing to hide, and for it to be able to give flesh to its rhetoric on transparency and accountability, then it should readily support such an audit, even if it leads to suspending more projects and holding accountable persons within the administration," the group said.
President Arroyo on Tuesday put on hold 11 infrastructure projects financed through ODA.
During a meeting of the Procurement Transparency Group in Malacañang on Tuesday, President Arroyo ordered her economic team to look for local funding for these projects instead.
"We are putting on hold all ODA loans which are not yet finalized... We can do this without borrowing," President Arroyo said.
The projects that would be covered by the order include the following:
* New communications, navigation, surveillance and air traffic management systems development project (P2.64 billion)
* Regionalization of mental health services (P2.64 billion)
* Phase 2 of the redevelopment of the Tacloban Airport (P1.12 billion)
* Construction of elementary and secondary classrooms in areas with acute shortage (P45.6 million)
* Cyber-Ed project (P26.48 billion)
* LRT Line 1 south extension (P27.32 billion)
* Mainline south railway project for the Luzon Urban Beltway (P15.3 billion)
* LRT Line 2 extension (P10.33 billion)
* Bataan-Manila pipeline project (P7.2 billion)
* LRT Line 1 north extension project (P5.98 billion)
* Angat water utilization and aquaduct improvement (P5.75 billion)
President Arroyo also ordered Budget Secretary Rolando Andaya to hold a dialog with multilateral lending partners of the country to come up with a "uniformed and fair terms of reference" for future projects.
Presidential Spokesman Ignacio Bunye explained that if the government decides to revive the controversial CyberEd project, funding would be sourced locally. - GMANews.TV
