Tingog.com

The Department of Justice for all its inequities is definitely consistent. Everything is legal, as long as it doesn’t meet the ire of the Administration. In yet another eyebrow raising decision, they have made the $330 million broadband deal as legal as shoplifting. Wait a minute, shoplifting is illegal. Well, you get my point right?

DOJ defends legality of $330-M broadband deal

The Department of Justice on Tuesday defended the legality of the $330-million (about P15 billion) broadband infrastructure project to link up local government units down to the barangay (village) level agreed to by the Philippines and China. The deal did not go through a public bidding.

Oh yes, Department of Justice, keep defending your masters…

Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez said the proposed national broadband network (NBN) project did not have to go through a bidding because it may be considered an executive agreement based on the memorandum of understanding signed by the Philippine government represented by Trade Secretary Peter Favila and the Chinese state-run firm ZTE Corp.

What agreement?

“It is the opinion of this department that the exchange of correspondence between Defensor and Li may be considered an executive agreement, provided that the loan agreement between the Philippine government and China Exim Bank is subsequently concluded,” Gonzalez said.

Considering the mouth from which that opinion is coming from, I’m not buying it.

Justice dep’t says broadband deal with China is legal

Under Section 4 of Republic Act (RA) 9184, or the Government Procurement Reform Act, “any treaty or international or executive agreement affecting procurement to which the Philippine government is a signatory shall be observed,” among them infrastructure projects, goods and consulting services, regardless of source of funds, whether local or foreign, by all branches and instrumentalities of government, its departments, offices and agencies, including government-owned and controlled corporations and local government units.

“Clearly, therefore, executive agreements involving infrastructure projects to be funded by a foreign lending institution do not fall within the scope of RA 9184, which mandates that all procurement activities must be made through public bidding,” said Gonzalez, adding that the loan agreement is considered an integral part of the executive agreement with China.

In short, the DOJ is saying, We have found an excuse na na na na na! And thus, we also found a loophole, na na na na na!

Say — Wait a minute — Didn’t the President just announce her gung-ho, super region, million-year, P1.7 trillion plan for the nation’s infrastructures?

Are these infrastructure plans also going to be Executive Agreements?

Gonzalez is basically legalizing hotel room deals, lunch time handshakes, and even the simple nod and winks may be the next form of “executive agreements”

Who cares that these agreements results in The Philippines being screwed, charged higher, and the Filipino people left scratching their heads and asking why???

No more oversight, and no more bidding as long as everything can be lumped into an “executive agreement”

Bigger Is Beautiful For The Corrupt

‘Big-time graft on the rise’

The shroud of secrecy surrounding high-level government contracts has led to the rise of “grander” and more lucrative corrupt practices in the Arroyo administration, anticorruption crusaders said Tuesday.

Is this really surprising?

Lazatin said it was becoming more difficult for watchdog groups to get information and gain access to documents in the Arroyo administration.

“It’s much, much harder. I think there is a decrease in transparency and good governance,” Lazatin said in an interview at the DAP presentation.

Departments in the Arroyo administration have been stingy about releasing documents and information of public interest, he said.

If you were screwing the Filipino people, would you want to be transparent?

Lazatin cited the government’s refusal to disclose the documents and papers on the controversial Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement and the more recent $330-million broadband contract between the Philippine government and the Chinese telecommunication firm, ZTE Corp.

That last mention of the $330 million broadband contract has brought this article full circle. It is indeed the intent of this specific article that I hope the Filipino people realize that we are being made bitches in our own country. The Pirates of The Philippines are holding all the key positions.

Deals such as the broadband deal make it obvious for the ordinary Filipino to see that there must be reason why the Government would choose to pay $330 million without bidding, and refuse the offers of such companies willing to pay half that price.

The reasons can be as varied as having close personal ties with these companies and personalities, or having side deals to receive kickbacks, or both, or maybe some other reason. But the reason is beside the point. Because the action — the action smells of corruption and graft.

tags: executive agreement, government procurement, national broadband network, nbn deal, raul gonzalez, ra 9184, zte corp