Senator Francis “Chiz” Escudero. ARNOLD ALMACEN/INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines — Senator Francis “Chiz” Escudero is urging the Aquino administration to run after those responsible for the botched NorthRail project, which has cost the government P9 billion.
During Wednesday’s hearing of the Senate finance committee on the proposed 2015 national budget, the senator asked members of the Development Budget Coordinating Council (DBCC) if anyone has been charged over the scuttled railways project.
“I presumed it was scrapped because of the corruption allegations associated with it. But do you agree, Secretary, that someone should pay for this? We are paying so much for something we did not continue, that the Filipino people did not benefit from,” Escudero, chairman of the committee, asked Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima.
“Someone should pay for it, someone should go to jail and land in jail for this particular fiasco. The taxpayers are the ones paying this now,” he said.
Responding to the senator, Purisima said: “I fully agree, Mr. Chair. I will have to get back to you on that; I am not familiar on the latest on the investigation of the NorthRail. All I’m familiar with is the financial aspect of NorthRail.”
National Treasurer Rosalia de Leon told the committee that the government had paid part of its sovereign obligation to China Exim Bank amounting to about $180 million.
“But we still have an outstanding obligation. The commercial component to parties is about $50 million,” De Leon said.
The NorthRail project, an 80-kilometer railroad that would link Caloocan with Clark in Pampanga, was contracted out by the Arroyo administration in 2003 to the China National Machinery and Equipment Corporation (CNMEC) for an original contract cost of $421 million. The flagship project was funded by a government loan of $400 million from China’s Exim Bank and the balance to be sourced from the Development Bank of the Philippines.
In 2009, CNMEC increased the contract price to $593million, with the government agreeing to shoulder the cost of the difference.
The Aquino administration, however, scrapped the project in 2011 after legal questions and allegations of corruption hounded the project.
“What did we get out of this, if any? We didn’t get anything out of it, anything usable, nothing,” Escudero said.
“Despite the extravaganza of corruption and wasted taxpayers money no one is in jail yet. With this money, P9 billion, someone should be hauled to jail,” he further said.
The senator then directed Purisima to submit during the budget hearing of the Department of Finance all updates on the legal efforts to hold accountable those responsible for the fiasco.
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