(Eagle News) — Senator Leila de Lima on Friday, Jan. 25, lauded the Senate’s move to block payment for the P20-billion Chinese closed-circuit television camera project.
“I commend the Senate for seriously evaluating and reviewing the ‘Safe Philippines’ project and asserting that funds from the taxpayers’ money should not be used to finance it. Not only is the project lacking in transparency, it also poses serious national security concerns,” she said in a statement.
De Lima noted that for the project that involves the installation of an initial 12,000 closed-circuit television security cameras in public areas in Metro Manila and Davao City, the Department of the Interior and Local Government signed an agreement with China International Telecommunication Construction Corporation, that says that the Chinese multinational telecommunication equipment and consumer electronics company Huawei, whose integrity she said was questioned by countries such as Canada, United Kingdom, and Australia, would supply the equipment.
According to De Lima, who in December last year filed a resolution urging a Senate panel to look into the loan deal between the DILG and the CITCC, “we should never compromise the public’s rights, let alone our country’s national security, when entering into any deals or agreements with foreign countries, much less China whose interests are opposed to ours.”
“By blocking this Chinese-funding project, the government is protecting the Philippine economy and the country’s national security, while respecting the privacy of the Filipino public which could be threatened by the installation of these CCTV security cameras,” De Lima said.
Recently, the Senate included two provisions in its version of the 2019 national budget that has the effect of blocking the funds for the project.
The first provision, under the Unprogrammed Fund section, specifies that no amount “shall be utilized for any project intended for public video surveillance and communication system with suppliers or service providers that are considered as serious risks to national security or interest or are involved in cases regarding information leakage, computer or network hacking, and other forms of cyber espionage, whether in the Philippines or in other countries.”
The second provision, on the other hand, lists the foreign-assisted projects that may draw from the authorized appropriations for fiscal year 2019.
The Safe Philippines project was not included in the list.
On Thursday, Jan. 24, Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said, however, that President Rodrigo Duterte may veto the Senate’s bid to block the funds.
It was still unclear, however, if the harmonized version of the bicameral conference committee would retain the Senate provisions.
