Re: who the heck is glorias lawyer? they are giving her bum advice
- From: "sibuyas" <sylviapatis@xxxxxxxxx>
- Date: 28 Sep 2005 23:57:52 -0700
The Senate conducted an inquiry into the project on Thursday as a
result of a privilege speech delivered by Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile in
February The final contract involves rehabilitation of a 32-kilometer
railway, which will run from Caloocan City to Malolos, Bulacan.
The contract was awarded to the China National Machinery and Equipment
Corp. (CNMEC) using a loan secured from China's Export-Import Bank
(Eximbank).
Fernandez said that of the $503 million project cost, a total of some
$100 million would be shouldered by the Philippine government.
In these kinds of contracts, Fernandez said, the government cannot
spend on anything unless the funds are properly appropriated into the
budget by Congress. If it is part of an appropriation, he added, then
the funds should be certified as available.
The certification of the availability of funds, he said, should be
executed by the accounting official of the contracting agency and
verified by the resident auditor.
Fernandez revealed that the contract provided to them for study did not
have any certification.
"Without (the certification), (the contract) is void," he said.
Aside from voiding the contract, Fernandez said the one who signed the
contract can also be held liable for violating provisions of the
Auditing Code and Administrative Code of 1987.
Among those who attended the hearing from the UP Law Center were: Harry
Roque, Solomon Lumba, Marwil Liasus and engineer Rene Santiago. Lawyer
Efren Gonzales, assistant government corporate counsel, also attended
the hearing.
An initial opinion provided by the center found the Northrail contract
as "unlawful and void" for not undergoing public bidding.
The UP Law Center study said the contract could not be viewed as a
treaty or executive agreement, and that there was no certification of
availability of funds for the government’s counterpart fund of $82
million.
On the economic, financial and technical aspects of the Northrail
project, the center said that CNMEC is not technically qualified to be
a prime contractor, because it has done no railway project of similar
magnitude in China or elsewhere in the world.
Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile on Thursday demanded that the Senate subpoena
all related contracts signed by the government for the Northrail
project, as well as the details and identities of the people who
negotiated the contracts for the Philippine government.
Sen. Rodolfo Biazon said he terminated an earlier inquiry into the
Northrail contract conducted by the Senate committee on urban planning,
housing and resettlement after discovering contentious issues in the
contract not under the jurisdiction of his committee. He said the
inquiry concentrated on the relocation of some 40,000 families affected
by the railway project.
He said Section 15.1 of the CNMEC contract showed that the provisions
of the agreement shall be governed by laws of PROC. "There was no
mention of Philippine laws here," he said.
He also questioned a contractual provision that bound the borrower, in
this case the Philippine government, to agree that all lawsuits about
the contract be brought only before trial courts in China.
He also questioned why a kilometer of a similar railway in China cost
only $871,000 per kilometer to build compared to the $13 million per
kilometer cost in the Philippines.
.
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