Beijing wants rail project completed

Even as the North Rail project faces scrutiny by the Senate, outgoing Chinese Ambassador Wu Hongbo said his government is determined to push through with the $503-million railway system that will run from Caloocan City to Malolos City in Bulacan.

In his speech at a farewell dinner tendered in his honor by Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. in Makati City Tuesday night, Wu lamented that the current state of Philippine railroads are worse than those he rode in as a child in China 40 years ago.

The Chinese envoy personally rode in one of the coaches of the Philippine National Railways (PNR) southern line — the only working railroad in the PNR network — and "felt so sorry" upon seeing its dilapidated state.

For the country to achieve economic progress, Wu stressed it is a must to have a wide network of railways and roads.

"What we are saying is that the Chinese government and the company (China National Machinery and Equipment Group or CNMEC) are doing our part and we are determined to fulfill our obligations and as our President (Hu Jintao) told your President, we are determined to build your railways as a symbol of the friendship between China and the Philippines," Hu told the gathering of members of the diplomatic corps and lawmakers.

The 32.2-kilometer North Rail project is currently under investigation by the entire Senate sitting as the Committee of the Whole over alleged overpricing and disadvantageous provisions in the contract.

Malacañang has repeatedly insisted that the contract was aboveboard and vital to the country’s interest, despite a lack of public bidding. But the other day, the Palace said it would look into the study of the University of the Philippines Law Center (UPLC) that found the deal to be illegal and disadvantageous to the government.

However, Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita explained the executive department must be given time to review the study in order to properly answer the issues raised about the contract.

Ermita said he just received a copy of UPLC’s supposedly confidential paper yesterday.

With this, he asked Senate President Franklin Drilon to excuse officials from the executive department from attending the Senate inquiry into the matter pending review of the UPLC study.

"(We should be able) to rebut the issues raised by the UP Law Center," he noted.

During the farewell dinner for Wu, De Venecia said what "shortsighted politicians don’t know" is that the government has a master plan for the railroad networks in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao with the help of the governments of Austria as well as Germany.

Wu pointed out that the Philippines has abundant natural resources, talented people and cheap labor, but these are not tapped to the country’s advantage because of the lack of roads and railways.

He said a good road and railway network would allow the dispersal of economic opportunities throughout the country and help decongest Metro Manila.

"I cannot imagine, one-fifth of the country’s population squeezed in tightly here (Metro Manila). You need good roads and railroads for investments. If I were an investor, I see good opportunities in other places but how do I get there? When I get there, how do I come out? No road access, nothing," Wu said.

Riding the PNR train, Wu said, brought back memories of his childhood days in China when he used to ride trains that were in better condition than those currently running in the Philippines.

On another issue, Wu also expressed hope that both countries would be closer in the years to come as he pointed out that the tripartite agreement, which included Vietnam, over the joint exploration of the disputed Spratly Islands in the South China Sea was a big step towards ensuring peace in the region.

"We have been neighbors for so many years but we have to do more… you can choose your friends but you cannot choose your neighbors. We should have good relations always," Wu said.

He said he distinctly remembers the simple instruction given to him by the Chinese President before he was posted in Manila: to promote bilateral relations between the Philippines and China.

In a 28-page opinion on the legal, economic, financial and technical aspects of the contract, the UPLC recommended the annulment of the North Rail contract with CNMEC and the filing of criminal, civil and administrative charges against all persons who signed the contract.

The center cited an absence of public bidding on the contract as among the reasons for arriving at its conclusions, though there are exceptions to competitive bidding contained under Republic Act 9184.

It added the contract could not be viewed as a treaty or executive agreement whether seen from the perspective of international or Philippine law. — With Aurea Calica