MANILA, Philippines -- Moved by the "astounding" tale of greed and corruption told by the National Broadband Network contract witness Rodolfo Noel Lozada Jr., a group seeking debt reforms is convening an independent audit commission that will seek to uncover all anomalies and questionable transactions in loan-financed contracts entered into by the government.

On the priority list of the Citizens Debt Audit Commission, initiated by the Freedom from Debt Coalition (FDC) and the People Against Illegitimate Debt (PAID), are the aborted ZTE-National Broadband Network project, the South Luzon Railway Project and the Cyber Education Project -- all funded by the Export-Import Bank of China.

Including the North Railway Project, which was also funded by China, the government has four projects bankrolled by what FDC and PAID called "illegitimate" loan of $2.2 billion (P91.1 billion).

The launch of an independent commission would pave the way for a comprehensive audit of all public debts, policies and laws that have been governing public loans, including the build-operate-transfer (BOT) law, the practice of extending sovereign guarantees and the resulting contingent liabilities, PAID convener Lidy Nacpil said, reading from a prepared statement.

Lawyers, accountants, members of the academe and representatives of a broad spectrum of civil and faith-based organizations will comprise the independent audit body.

The group hoped that the House of Representatives would form a Congressional Commission on Debt Audit to coincide with the civilian-led audit commission.

The independent body will also create a technical working group tasked with undertaking research and gathering testimonies and public hearings in relation to the projects.

"We call on other government officials and private citizens, who have information concerning other questionable projects, to come forward," Nacpil said.

Lozada, an information technology expert, who was tapped to provide technical knowledge in the evaluation of proposals for the NBN project, has linked former elections chair Benjamin Abalos Sr. and President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s husband, Jose Miguel "Mike" Arroyo, to the alleged corruption in the deal.

Former Akbayan representative Etta Rosales said the creation of a people's watchdog like an independent audit team would be the right step in a situation in which "government instruments are collapsing and failing to be accountable to public interest."

"This is not about toppling the government but about what the people should do in this situation," she said at the news conference.

Nacpil said the findings of the people-led audit commission would be made available to the public on a regular basis.