(Eagle News) – President Rodrigo Duterte has ordered a review of all government contracts, particularly those on concession agreements and foreign loans, with the specific instruction to “remove onerous provisions” of these deals.
Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said the President gave the order on Monday, April 1, during a cabinet meeting, directing both the Department of Justice and the Office of the Solicitor General, as well as all legal departments to review these contracts.
“He (President Duterte) directed the Solicitor General and Department of Justice Secretary and all legal departments to review, evaluate, scrutinize every contract entered by the government and/or each agency with private corporations and/or countries and determine whether there are onerous provisions in the contract that will put the Filipino people in disadvantage or in violation of the Constitution,” Panelo said in a briefing in Malacanang.
-Review to include deals with China-
When asked if this review would also include agreements made with China, Panelo said yes.
“Definitely, any contract,” he said.
Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said that the review would prioritize “concession agreements on public utilities and foreign loan contracts.” are to be prioritized in the review.
He said that the provisions that are perceived to be “onerous, one-sided, disadvantageous to the government” and those “contrary to public order or public policy.”
The Justice secretary has already organized teams that will be tasked to conduct the review, and said that they would also coordinate and seek the help of the Office of the Solicitor General to implement the President’s order.
The directive for the review of government contracts came about after the severe water supply interruptions in the concession areas of Manila Water Company.
It also came about after the alleged onerous terms of the $62 million Chico River Pump Irrigation project which were questioned by Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio.
Carpio claimed that China could seize the oil and gas rich Reed Bank in case the Philippine government fails to pay its P3.69 billion loan, particularly as paragraph 8.2 in the loan agreement had stated that the Philippines was waiving any sovereign immunity over all its assets.
This is except for properties of Philippine embassies and missions, assets of a military character under the control of the local military and assets located for public or government use as distinguished from patrimonial ones and those dedicated for commercial use.
Panelo had earlier claimed that Carpio’s fears were misplaced, while Guevarra said that the loan was a payable amount.
The Presidential spokesperson said that Duterte had “reiterated his vow to protect the people of the Republic of the Philippines.”
-Review of water concession deals-
He said that what prompted the President to order the review of government contracts was the agreement with water concessionaire Maynilad where the government was barred from “interfering and intruding into the terms of the contract.”
He said that both Solicitor General Jose Calida and Justice Secretary Guevarra were directed “to study the case of Maynilad v Republic.”
In October last year, after the Philippine government failed to appeal a Singapore high court’s decision for Maynilad, this decision favoring Maynilad became final.
In the ruling, the Philippine government was ordered to pay Maynilad P3.42 billion for failing to implement a water tariff increase from March 2015 to August 2016.
