After turning up the heat on the chairmen of Manila Water Co. Inc. and Maynilad Water Services Inc., President Rodrigo Duterte will train his guns next on the management of the Manila Light Rail Transit (LRT).
In his speech during a thanksgiving gathering with the Fraternal Order of Eagles in Davao City on Friday night, Duterte said he would review next the Manila LRT contract with the government, where the Ayala family and a corporation owned by Manuel V. Pangilinan were also involved.
Manila Water is a subsidiary of Ayala Corp., while Pangilinan’s Metro Pacific Investments Corp. owns a controlling stake in the other water concessionaire, Maynilad.
In 2015, the consortium between Ayala Corp. and Metro Pacific Investments Corp. assumed the operation of LRT 1, the first elevated commuter train in Metro Manila that stretches from the Muñoz station in Quezon City to the Baclaran station in Pasay City.
Ayala- and Metro Pacific-backed Light Rail Manila Consortium had also won the award to build, operate and maintain the P64.9-billion LRT Line 1 extension project to Cavite.
“Karami na nilang pera, sobra-sobra na (They have a lot of money). Getting most of the contract, [including the] LRT. Merong… silipin ko. Meron man pala sila sa LRT (I will look into it. They have one with the LRT),” Duterte said.
“Marami ‘yan silang pinasukan sa gobyerno (They entered into many contracts with the government). Pero (But) this one is really the biggest rip-off of all. And that contract was never shown to the Filipino people,” he added.
Last week, the President vowed to “correct” all government contracts before he steps down from office in 2022 as he sought to renegotiate water concession deals with Maynilad and Manila Water.
In an exclusive interview with ABS-CBN, Duterte said he ordered the Office of the Solicitor General and the Department of Justice to check all of government’s existing contracts.
“All contracts that are prejudicial to the Filipino people will be corrected. ‘Yan ang maaasahan mo (You can expect that), within the limited time left for me in office, sabi ko (I said), I will correct everything, including contracts that are not to the best interest of the Filipino people,” he added.
Duterte said he would not be cowed by the possibility that investors might be dissuaded from putting up businesses in the Philippines.
“If you thought that they would be getting out of the Philippines, fine go out, be my guest. I will not be intimidated or even fear the possibility of reduced investment in this country,” he added.
“What I’m after for is justice for the Filipino people. For all I care, they can all withdraw but [I] still have to maintain what’s a matter of dignity for us,” the President said.
In December last year, Palace spokesman Salvador Panelo said the President has ordered the review of numerous public service contracts of the government with private firms to ensure that these were advantageous to Filipinos.
Government’s contracts with different private firms were put under scrutiny after the President criticized the supposedly onerous agreements with water suppliers Maynilad and Manila Water.
Duterte was irked by the two water firms after the Singapore-based Permanent Court of Arbitration issued separate rulings, ordering the Philippine government to pay P3.4 billion and P7.39 billion to Maynilad and Manila Water, respectively, for their supposed losses and damages.
In his latest speech, the President said the issue on the onerous water contracts really angered him, and caused him to be even more disappointed with the oligarchs who were boldly taking advantage of the public.
“I’m not the type na magmura sa… murahin ka sa publiko. Kaya kung mag-p***** ako diyan, galit ako, you deserve it (I’m not the type to curse someone out in public so if I cuss, it means I am angry and you deserve it),” according to him.
“Alam mo kung bakit? Bakit malakas loob nila? Akala nila they’d always control Philippine politics. Akala nila lahat ng Presidente [kaya nila] (Do you know why they are so brazen?
They think they’d always control Philippine politics. They think they can control every President),” he said.
The President reiterated that the existing water deals have violated the country’s laws, particularly the anti-graft practices law.
“That is why my stand is the contract was void, null and void right at the beginning of its life in 1957. Wala na lang tayong magawa (We can’t do anything),” Duterte said.
“We surrendered sovereignty. We allowed our natural and valuable natural resource such as water, ginawa nilang (they made into a) common commodity. That is a violation of the Constitution,” he added.
‘Just a show-off’
Also on Friday, Duterte criticized Pangilinan and Manila Water Chairman Fernando Zobel de Ayala for being “show-offs” with their allegedly dubious civic foundations.
He said the owners of the water firms just tried to show their “corporate conscience” through their foundations but were actually engaged in the “greatest rip-off of the country” over the alleged irregular water deals.
“Kaya sabi niyo (You asked), ‘Where is the big fish?’ I’m giving you now the biggest fish of them all. Ang pinakamayaman pa, may mga foundation for the poor, kung ano-ano. Eh ilan
lang mang estudyante binibigyan nila (The richest people have the foundation for the poor.
But they are giving just to a handful of students). Just a show-off,” Duterte noted.
“Just to maybe convey to the Filipino nation that, ‘No we are rich but we have a corporate conscience,’” he said.
The President particularly mentioned the Ayala Foundation, which he said, supposedly sponsors the schooling of rich children abroad.
“You know we have this Ayala Foundation sending scholars. Ang scholars naman nila, eh anak ng mga mayaman. Libre doon sa America ang pag-aral (Their scholars are children from rich families. They study in America for free),” he added.
Meanwhile, Duterte reiterated his call for the concessionaires to sign new contracts without the onerous provisions, or the government would have to take over the water service.
“Pag-aralan daw nila (They will study it) but I tell you, you better sign the contract, this is good for the Filipino people. You do not sign it, I take over your operations in water distribution. I will nationalize the water in my country,” he said.
The President also said the case against the water concessionaires “is airtight.”
“I am a prosecutor; I can convict you if I hale you to court,” Duterte warned, as he expressed confidence of securing a legal victory if he files cases against the water officials.
“I will take over. I will expropriate then I will charge you in court. I am very sure that in the hands of a competent prosecutor I could get a conviction of plunder,” he said.
“Once that case is filed for estafa on a large scale, there is no bail allowed,” the President added.
The President previously threatened to file economic sabotage and economic plunder charges against the owners of the two water companies over the supposedly onerous provisions in the current contracts.
On January 7, Duterte gave the two water concessionaires the choice of either accepting the new water contracts or facing the cancellation of their existing deals.
He, however, expressed willingness to make amends with water concessionaires if they accept the “corrected” contracts.
The government is targeting the completion of the new water contracts within three to six months.
The 25-year water concession agreements were signed in 1997 during the term of then-president Fidel Ramos and extended in 2009 by the administration of then-president Gloria Macapagal- Arroyo until 2037.
Source: https://www.manilatimes.net/2020/01/19/news/headlines/duterte-to-review-lrt-contract-next/675652/