Official copy ng Phl-China loan agreement ipinalilitaw sa Kongreso

MANILA, Philippines — Nanawagan sa Senado ang ilang militanteng lider para i-bukas ng Department of Finance sa publiko ang opisyal na kopya ng $62.09-milyong loan agreements sa pagitan ng Pilipinas at Tsina.

Naging kontrobersyal ang naturang kasunduan dahil imbis na mga Pilipino, mga Tsinong contractors at manggagawa raw ang kukunin para sa Chico River Irrigation Pump Project na popondohan ng utang. Maliban dito, kukunin daw ng Tsina ang ilang ari-arian ng Pilipinas bilang kapalit oras na 'di mabayaran ang utang.

Ayon sa Bayan Muna party-list, ayaw ng gobyerno maisiwalat ang nilalaman ng loan agreement sa takot na makasuhan ng Tsina dahil sa pinirmahang "confidentiality clause," 'yan ay kahit na hinihingi ng Article XII, Section 21 ng 1987 Constitution na isapubliko ang anumang utang mula sa ibang bayan.

"Foreign loans may only be incurred in accordance with law and the regulation of the monetary authority. Information on foreign loans obtained or guaranteed by the Government shall be made available to the public"

“Despite repeated demands for Malacanang to make the copy of the loans accessible to the public, it has refused to do so because they are afraid of being haled to court by China because they agreed to a confidentiality clause in the loan contract particularly Section 8.8," ayon kay Bayan Muna chairperson at Makabayan senatorial bet Neri Colmenares.

Ito ang tinututulan nilang probisyon:

"Article 8.8 Confidentiality. The Borrower shall keep all the terms, conditions and the standard fees hereunder or in connection with this Agreement, STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL.  Without the prior written consent of the Lender, the Borrower shall not disclose any information hereunder or in connection with this Agreement to any third party unless required to be disclosed by the Borrower to any courts of competent jurisdiction, relevant regulatory bodies, or any government institution and/or instrumentalities of the Borrower in accordance with any applicable Philippine law."

Ito ang unang "Build, Build, Build" program na pinirmahan ng Pilipinas kasama ang Tsina.

Sa loob ng nasabing kasunduan, tinukoy ang China CAMC Engineering Co. bilang kontraktor ng proyekto.

Panelo: Dalhin mo sa korte

Matatandaang tinanggihan ni presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo ang hamon ni Colmenares na makipagdebate tungkol sa nasabing utang.

Aniya, magbibigay lang daw ito ng pagkakataon kay Colmenares para makapagkampanya sa eleksyon.

“Challenging a publicly visible government official to a debate attracts media attention. Surely [Colmenares] knows how to grab at a media op to improve on his fledgling candidacy,” ani Panelo.

“If he is not satisfied with our responses he is free to go to the courts, as his usual style for media mileage and we will be happy to oblige him there,” dagdag niya.

Una nang sinabi ng tagapagsalita ng pangulo na magbibigay ang P4.3-billion Chico River project ng "stable supply" ng tubig sa 8,700 ektarya ng agricultural lands na pakikinabangan diumano ng 4,350 magsasaka sa mga probinsya ng Kalinga at Cagayan.

'Unconstitutional'

Giit ni Colmenares, na isa ring abogado, labag sa Saligang Batas ang pagtatago ng nilalaman ng loan agreement sa mamamayan.

"This confidentiality clause imposed by China is unconstitutional. It cannot supersede the Constitution,'" ani Colmenares.

Kinikilala ang 1987 Constitution bilang pinakamataas na batas sa bansa.

Babala ni Colmenares, oras na magkaroon ng kalituhan sa loan agreement ay dadalhin ito sa Chinese arbitration body alinsunod sa mga batas ng Tsina.

“Grabe naman ang DOF kung pati Konstitusyon ay payagan nilang apak-apakan ng China. We will pay for these loans and it is our right to know the contents of the agreement that sets the terms of the loan.  We ask Sen. [Sherwin] Gatchalian to press on with his demand as it is the right of both the Senate and the House, and the Filipino people, to have access to copies of loans incurred by the govt,” wika ni Colmenares.

Pwedeng silipin ng Kamara, Senado

Hinamon naman ni Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Zarate si Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian para magsagawa ng "full-blown investigation" tungkol sa agreement.

Ayon sa Article VII, Section 20 ng konstitusyon, may kapangyarihan ang Kongreso silipin ang mga dokumento.

SECTION 20. The President may contract or guarantee foreign loans on behalf of the Republic of the Philippines with the prior concurrence of the Monetary Board, and subject to such limitations as may be provided by law. The Monetary Board shall, within thirty days from the end of every quarter of the calendar year, submit to the Congress a complete report of its decisions on applications for loans to be contracted or guaranteed by the Government or government-owned and controlled corporations which would have the effect of increasing the foreign debt, and containing other matters as may be provided by law.

Sasabayan naman daw nila ito ng sarili nilang imbestigasyon sa Kamara.

"We will also file a resolution to investigate this in the House [of Representatives] for after all, even our power over the purse has been violated when China imposed the condition of automatic appropriations for the loan payments in the annual budget,” sabi ni Zarate.