Poe: Gov’t must divulge details of deals with China

Senator Grace Poe on Wednesday said the Duterte administration should reveal to the public details of the 29 bilateral agreements it signed with the People’s Republic of China. 

“The government owes it to the Filipinos to divulge the details of the agreements to see if there are potentials for red flags or if there are elements there that would put us at a disadvantage,” the senator said in a statement.

“At the end of the day, it is the people’s money that would pay for all these projects, thus the people should have a say,” she added.

Chinese President Xi Jinping and President Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday witnessed the signing of 29 documents on trade, infrastructure, and education, among others, in Malacañang.

One of them was a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for oil and gas development, but location of the fuel exploration was not immediately disclosed.

Also, details of the 28 other deals, including an MOU on basic education cooperation as well as another one between the Department of Information and Communication Technology and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of China are yet to be released by the Palace.

READ: PH, China sign MOU on oil and gas development, 28 other deals 

Poe stressed the importance of the MOU on oil and gas development, pointing out that it involves exploration activities in Philippine territory.

“It could not just be an economic issue, but a matter of sovereignty. Let us not forget that we have at our fingertips the legal victory from the international arbitral tribunal. We should use this to our advantage,” she said.

Poe, however, noted that signing deals per se are not bad. She said it was just imperative for government to make sure it is not hoodwinked in the process.

“Hindi naman masamang makipagkasunduan, siguraduhin lang natin na hindi tayo maiisahan,” she said. /kga